Kitsune of Innocence
by Dark Naruto
Summary: AU. NarutoXDGM. Naru had almost died after a fight against Akatsuki, but Kyuubi decided to send her to a new realm for a new chance at life. Reborn as a baby, watch Naru as she struggles in this new world with pieces of memories of her old life. FemNaru!
1. Chapter 1

First and foremost... **HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO! (^_^)**

Today is one of the historical dates for Naruto fans! Its 10/10/2010! A day that should be marked in history! :D

Moving on, I really wanted to update my stories, but I am currently trying to catch up with the latest chapter of Naruto. I am *cough cough* 200 chapters behind. I haven't even meet Karin yet, or read the part where Jiraiya was killed (though i already know that). That's how far behind I am. Sucks, I know. And I really shouldn't be starting a new story when I have tons of stories to update. Originally, I hadn't really wanted to publish this story until much much later. But i felt like I should so something special on 10/10/2010. It's a special date after all.

As for D. Gray-Man... it's just getting more and more awesome! Whoop!

Disclaimer: If I own Naruto I would have at least one female character that isn't as annoying as the original casts. No offense. Oh and I don't own D. Gray-Man, though I wish I could own Allen. He's such a cutie.

This story is inspired by Oshima zakura.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Naru eyed the surroundings frantically, making sure that she was the last person standing alive. Soon she relaxed, although still on guard, as she groaned and dragged her feet away from the corpse that was once Pein. The battle between the last Jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki's leader had ended, but not without casualties and injuries. Her shoulder-length hair was a mess, randomly chopped off in different directions, while her orange jacket was in tatters, soaked with blood. A deep gash across her shoulder marked her petite yet strong body. She clutched her wounded shoulder as she kneeled before her former teammate's body. Tears spilled as she stared at her beloved's handsome yet pale face.

"Sasuke..."

Naru planted a soft kiss on his lips, praying that he would open his eyes one last time. She longed for his lovely onyx gaze, filled with love and care for this vixen. But her wish remained a wish, for Sasuke is no longer among the living. Naru started to sob uncontrollably as she lied down next to him, arms and head resting on the last Uchiha's still chest.

Blood slowly pooled onto the floor as her wound was deep, and what was left of Kyuubi's chakra wasn't enough to heal that severe wound. Naru had exhausted her and the demon's chakra reserves in this final battle. After all, she had not only fought against Pein, but the wicked Uchiha Madara as well. Gradually, she stopped sobbing and smiled to herself at the thought of finally avenging her precious people; 'Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, Tsunade-baachan, Sandaime-jiji, Ayame-chan, Teuchi-san, Minato-otousan and Okaasan... everyone... I've avenged you... I've defeated the evil that caused your deaths... Rest in peace... everyone...'

Memories of her short life flashed through her mind; ever since she could remember, Sandaime-jiji had always been there with her. He had done many things for her, loving her as a grandfather would, and giving in to her wishes at times. True, he was busy and there were times when she had to spend occasions alone, but he had cared and loved her, and for a lonely orphan like her, that was enough.

Iruka-sensei came up next. He had been the only brother figure that had accepted her for who she was, and not as the Kyuubi, even before she had found out about the sealed demon. He had helped and guided her, not only in class but in her life as well, and for that she was thankful. No one could ever replace her beloved brother figure.

Ayame-chan and Teuchi-san, owner of Ichiraku Ramen had also been among the first people that had welcomed and doesn't hate her for what she had no control over with. True, their reason at the beginning might only be due to business. But as time passes by, they started to greet her warmly as their own, and she felt like she finally had a place to turn to beside her vandalized home and Sandaime-jiji's office. She felt welcomed, and that's all that matters.

When she graduated from the Academy, she found a new family. At first, things were bad and she truly felt like Kami was out to get her. But as time flies, they started to bond with each other as a team and everything felt right. Kakashi-sensei was like another brother figure, the irresponsible yet caring kind. He was always late and being reckless, but he was respected among the team. Sakura-chan was a sister that she never had. Naru thought she was beautiful and strong, an epitome of beauty that she wanted to become, except when the pink-haired teammate was in a fan-girl mode that is. And Sasuke...

Sasuke was the one person that had changed everything.

She hated him with passion at first; a stuck-up jerk that doesn't know what he had, always chasing after revenge. He was a bastard that always riled her up over the littlest of things, and challenged her for most things. Sometimes he looked down on her and insulted her with his supposedly cool demeanour, and she seriously hated him for that. But...

But he was there for her, when she needed comfort most. He was there when she lost her precious people, and he was there when she broke down. He gave her courage and strength when she needed it, and stayed with her till the end. He was her rival and only best friend, and... He loved and sees her for who she was, a sweet and beautiful girl that was a jailer of Kyuubi, and not the Kyuubi itself as everyone else had. And she fell head over heels in love with the last Uchiha.

Naru smiled sadly as her trembling fingers caressed Sasuke's left cheek. 'It won't be long now before I'm joining you in the afterlife...'

Her sudden movement caused the Hokage's necklace that was given to her by Tsunade to jingle. Naru looked down at the crystal pendant and was reminded of her beloved mother figure. 'Tsunade-baachan...'

Tsunade-baachan was another irreplaceable people for Naru. For the first time in her life after meeting the woman, she finally had the chance to feel what it's like to be loved and cared for by a mother. There were times when she had been scolded by the woman furiously, but in the end, she could always feel the warmth, for she knew that she was scolded because of love. She deeply loved the woman she called 'mother', and it broke her heart to pieces when she found her murdered.

Ero-sennin, or better known as the Toad Hermit was her adopted father. He was one of the great sannins, although he was mostly known for being a huge pervert as well as the infamous author of Icha Icha series. He was a funny old man, always managed to amuse her, but she deeply respected the man for his prowess and great wisdom, despite being a pervert. He was a great man, and she found out that his stories and legends did him little justice.

And finally... Minato-otousan and Kushina-okaasan; her birth parents whom she never had the chance to meet. They died the night she was born, saving the village from its impending doom. Naru understood that it was her father's responsibility as a Hokage, but she couldn't help but be peeved that she –his flesh and blood daughter- was used as a container. He did have a justified reason for using her, of course. He had explained it all in the letter she received the moment she became a jounin. It's just that she can't help the feeling of being unwanted that had been growing since she was small. She wished her mother had survived childbirth; maybe then she could have lead a better life... but it was not meant to be. Naru forgave her parents and was immensely relieved to know that she wasn't unwanted like she thought she was. Instead, she was loved, very much so as was proven in the letter.

Most of her precious people had died, and she realized that their deaths had been directly or indirectly caused by the Akatsuki organization, specifically Pein and Uchiha Madara. She was satisfied to have delivered her judgement upon them, and avenged her loved ones.

Naru started to cough violently, spitting out blood on her person as she breathe in air with difficulty. 'This is it... I'm going to die now...' she smiled sadly as she gazed at her beloved's pale face.

'I'm leaving the rest to you... Shika-kun... Hinata-chan...'

Naru slowly closed her eyes and took a deep hurtful breath as she waited for the inevitable.

However, as she breathed in her last breath, a quick, last thought flashed through her mind, and it was this single thought that had started the balls rolling; changing her life, and collectively the fate and destiny of another realm.

'I don't want to die...'

**oOoOoOoOo**

Kyuubi whimpered softly as she took in the sight of her collapsing sewers. She was in a humanoid form, too weak to stay in her original form as she was sprawled on the ground; her long, silky red hair flowed across the floor like a red halo. Her black kimono was in tatters, while her limbs were chained with blue strings of chakra. Light red wisps of her demonic chakra, almost invisible to the naked eye, were seeping out from her body.

'_**I can't believe I've been reduced to this; a weak entity with less than a thousandth of its original chakra.'**_ Kyuubi chuckled as she thought of her current predicament. Centuries ago, if someone had asked her of what she would have done in this situation, she would have scoffed at the ridiculous notion and glared at anyone who dared making such suggestions.

Yet here she was, stuck in this mess.

She couldn't even lift a finger as her energy was drained from regularly healing her host. Not to mention the amount of chakra she had to supply Naru for successful launches of most powerful jutsus she had in her arsenal. The total usage of her demonic chakra had exhausted her so, and she was peeved that she; the great fox demon Kyuubi had to spend much power against two mere mortals. Yes, mortals. Despite what Uchiha Madara had believed; that he was immortal, the Bijuu knew that there is no such thing as immortality. The Bijuus could perish at anytime in spite of having extensive age, so how could a normal human being be immortal? Hell, even Kyuubi herself was currently facing the inevitable known as death.

Kyuubi laughed quietly as she thought of her life coming to an end. She didn't mind it. She was getting tired of living. What is life, without your loved ones? She had lost her beloved and kits the moment Uchiha Madara decided to attack her home and hypnotised her into attacking Konoha.

What is life, without a purpose, without someone to protect? After losing her family, she had come to care for Naru as if she was her very own. But now, even Naru was facing death. She decided then. She might be a Bijuu, but it was never mentioned that Bijuu is immune to pain. Emotional pain specifically. Having lost her loved ones, Kyuubi could no longer bear to suffer the same pain that would be invoked with Naru's death. So why not die along with her then? It's not like she had any chakra left for survival either.

She smiled as she waited for death when a sudden thought struck her.

'_**I have no qualms about dying... but what about Naru? She has a bright future as a Hokage, that's for sure. I... She couldn't just die like this... but I no longer have the required amount of chakra to heal her...' **_Kyuubi paused in her thought. She has no idea on how to heal Naru without using chakra. Most of her healing techniques and spells involve energy of sort, chi, chakra, reiatsu and so forth, which she was lacking at the moment. But not one of them draws on other source of power. She frowned when she contemplated this fact.

Her fox ears perked up when she heard some kind of static buzzing across the failing chamber. Their time is almost up, the bond between her and her hostess' souls are breaking up. They might die when the other faces death, but their destination after-life was not the same. Since she's a demon, she would have no chance of going to the heaven or hell. She would simply perish and be erased from existence for eternity. Naru however, will have the chance to be judged before going to her designated place; whichever that is. Kyuubi smiled bitterly as she realized that there wasn't anything that she could do to nurse Naru back to her health. She listened to Naru's last few thoughts, not wanting to interrupt her last moments.

'_This is it... I'm going to die now...' _

'_I'm leaving the rest to you... Shika-kun... Hinata-chan...'_

Kyuubi solemnly began to bid her own farewell to her beloved kit. She had barely said a word when she heard Naru's final thought that stopped her in her tracks.

'_I don't want to die...'_

Kyuubi's eyes widened as she let Naru's thought sink in. _**'Of course... of course she doesn't want to die! She's only eighteen for God's sake! She had barely lived half of her life!' **_Kyuubi growled as she raked her brain, searching for any solution that could be used to salvage their current dilemma. She stopped when she remembered a forbidden incantation, one that wouldn't cure her kit, but could give her a second chance at life.

A forbidden spell that transfers a person to another realm. It was originally prohibited due to the consequences that it would cause; twisting the predestined working of said realm. But she could care less about the penalty. All she wanted was for her kit to have a second chance at life.

Slowly Kyuubi got up, fighting against the gravity and her protesting body. She closed her eyes and pressed her palms together to start the incantation. This spell does not require any sort of energy, which is perfect for her condition. It does, however, suck out the life essence of the user to power it up. Since she was facing death herself, Kyuubi had no fear on using up all of her life essence, not if it could mean giving Naru a better life.

Her eyebrows creased as she focused on pulling out the three elements from Naru's mind that is of upmost importance for this spell. Slowly, three floating orbs the size of a basketball materialized before her. The first one was orange in colour, representing the physical aspect of the person to be transferred; in this case, Naru. The second one that represents memories was of colour blue. The last and final piece; the most important part of the three, is the soul, glowing with white radiance that outshone the other orbs.

Suddenly, the orange orb had disappeared as soon as it had appeared. Kyuubi's eyes widened as she strengthen her hold on the orbs. She felt a pull fought against her hold and realized what had happened.

'_**I'm already reaching my limit. My time is almost up that I don't even have enough life essence to offer to this spell!' **_Kyuubi gritted her teeth as she felt her hold on the blue orb started to slip. She howled and roared, forcing more of her life essence to pour into the technique, and grinned when she felt her hold on the memory orb returned. However, despite her renewed vigour, the fact was her life essence was insufficient.

The memory orb started to disintegrate into dusts as it shrinks into a size no bigger than a fist. Kyuubi grunted as she lessened her hold onto the orbs, seeing as the pulling force had dissipated when the orb shrinks. She continued the incantation as she analysed the orbs. _**'Looking at the state of the orbs, I would have to guess that she would have little to none memories of the people she knew. She might even barely remember her own name, but this is the best I could do.' **_

Kyuubi looked up to her crumbling chamber and hardened her gaze. _**'I guess I have no choice. I would have to send her as it is, without her physical body and most of her memories. She would have to start all over again from the beginning. But at least... she will have a second chance at life...'**_

She finished the incantation and her eyes softened as she approached the two orbs. She gathered the orbs into her arms and whispered affectionately as a mother would to her child. **"Kit... you may not remember me in your second life, and I have no way of knowing which memories would stay with you, but I hoped those would consist of your happy ones and motivates you in your new life. However, know this. I love you as much as I would my own kits. That's how much you mean to me. You better make sure that you're having a better life there than you did here. Use the chance that I've created for you wisely. I just know that you will become someone great, greater than you had ever dreamed of... " **

Kyuubi released the orbs and spread out her arms. Her hands glowed white with a tint of red as did the orbs. A white pentagram with red seals appeared high above her head and glowed, pulsating in rhythm with her heartbeat.

She raised her hands and mouthed a word, **"Go."**

In a flash the white and blue orbs shot into the sky, and entered the pentagram seal. As soon as the orbs disappeared from the chamber, the pentagram shrink into nothingness, closing off the entrance into another realm that is filled with covert war between the light and dark substances, of 'Innocence' and 'Dark Matter'.

Kyuubi could feel her energy and life being drained as she felt her world going black. However, she remained standing as she stubbornly held onto the last sliver of her consciousness. She would not die without facing her own demise head on.

Abruptly, blue flames ignited at her feet and her surroundings. Kyuubi glanced drowsily at her feet,and slowly a grin managed to creep up to her face, _**'Ah...I see that Death has come to embrace me.'**_She stretched her hands out as if to welcome Death itself, and started laughing her heart out. The flames sped up and covered most of her torso.

'_**A death by flames... A befitting end for a great demon of my stature.'**_

******oOoOoOoOo**_**  
**_

In the outskirts of Italy, there was a little village named _'Speranza'_ which means '_hope'_, with a small population of 200. The residents of this village were very close-knitted since there were only about thirty families that live there. Most of the villagers work for and within the village; livestock and vegetable farmers, shopkeepers and the likes. There were also a few of them that had set up businesses which targets travellers and tourists; inns and weaponry, for this village, although minute, was the gateway for foreign voyagers.

In an average-sized house not far from the centre of the village lived a family that descends from generations of doctors and health consultant. The current generation was a man of great respect, with startling cerulean eyes. Normally he was calm and collected, with considerable amount of wisdom considering his age. However, at this moment, he was having difficulty of maintaining his composure; he fidgeted on the couch, sometimes pacing back and forth in the living room. The reason for his behaviour was simple; his wife was presently at labour.

Being a village doctor meant having medical knowledge and curing his fellow villagers from diseases to the best of his ability. He always helped and took care of people around him, especially the elderly. So it was no surprise that he panicked when his wife went into labour; for him, it was the first time he felt so useless, not knowing how to handle women when they're giving births to newborn babies. In the end, he had to call for a midwife to take over the whole process.

Presently, the man was staring out the window of his house, his cerulean eyes fixed on the movement of children that were playing on the streets. He turned around and combed his short black hair with his fingers restlessly.

'It has already been two hours, why aren't they done yet? Are there any complications with the birth?' He eyed the door where his wife lied beyond as he returned to his seat on the couch. He drummed his fingers on his knees for a few minutes, and was about to stand up to pace around the area again when the door of his bedroom opened.

An old woman of late sixties entered the living room, accompanied by three young women who were midwife-in-training. She scrutinized the nervous man before announcing the news with a cheerful tone, "Congratulations Mr. Vortice, you are blessed with a daughter," she smiled at him as he rushed into the room, letting out a relief when his gaze fell upon the blonde woman on the bed.

"Narcisa... oh Narcisa my love." He rushed forward and hugged her dearly, all the time whispering her name in his husky voice.

"Nataniele... I love you too, love." She smiled weakly, though her emerald eyes shone with joy. She patted on his back, and then pointed to the small makeshift bed beside her, "There she is... Isn't she beautiful?"

The man, now known as Nataniele, gaped at the sight of the most beautiful babe he had ever seen. Slowly he moved over to the other side and picked up the newborn delicately as if she was a piece of glass. He held onto the infant's frail body and smiled softly as he examined her, "She's gorgeous..." his eyes softened when he studied the little one, "She's got your hair..." he whispered to his wife.

"And she's got your beautiful eyes..." she whispered back.

"The perfect combination of us both." He grinned cheekily. Narcisa giggled and nodded, agreeing with her husband. She started to close her eyes, trying to get some needed rest when he spoke up, "So... what do you think we should name her?"

Narcisa turned and faced her significant other, pondering on her thought before her eyes sparkled and she answered, "Narunnia..."

"Narunnia?"

"Loose combination of our names..." she smiled serenely.

"Narunnia... Narunnia..." He tested saying it a few times and grinned when the name sounds just right and smooth to his tongue. He smiled back to his wife and nodded, "I like that."

He beamed and returned his gaze on his recently-named child. He caressed her soft cheek with his fingers and murmured, "Daddy's got you... Narunnia Vortice..."

**oOoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoOo**

Vortice – Maelstrom (Italian)

Nataniele – A gift from God

Narcisa – Feminine from of narcissus

So more or less, Nataniele Vortice means "Maelstrom is a gift from God"

I guess. I really don't know much about Italian, but I was just looking for a language that has a nice word for Maelstrom. And Vortice turns out to be Italian.

Narunnia doesn't really have a meaning, but I wanted a name where its nickname can be "Naru".

'Nar' from Narcisa, and "Nie/a" from Nataniele. So it comes down to Narunnia.

See you guys around.


	2. Chapter 2

Kitsune of Innocence

Chapter 2: The Past is Catching Up

A/N is located at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer: If I own Naruto I would have at least one female character that isn't as annoying as the original casts. No offense. Oh and I don't own D. Gray-Man, though I wish I could own Allen. He's such a cutie.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A small blonde hummed happily as she doodled on a piece of paper. Using a green crayon, she sketched her fifth drawing of the day intently while lying down on her tummy, legs swinging back and forth. After a few minutes, she was done; she put down the colouring tool and grinned at her drawing before scurrying to the living room where a man was lying on the dark red couch.

"Daddy!" The tiny ball of energy that was dressed in a light blue sleeveless shirt with a pair of short pants of darker shade jumped onto said man without reserve and landed straight onto his stomach.

"Oomph!" The man groaned as he looked down to find his little attacker. He chuckled before grabbing the little bundle of liveliness and raised her up in the air, watching her squealed from the sudden movement against the gravity. Nataniele pulled her close to him and kissed his daughter on her forehead. "Yes sweetheart?"

"Daddy daddy daddy! Lookie here! Look what I've draw!" She pulled out the slightly crumpled paper that was crushed beneath her and shoved it in his face. The blue-eyed man pulled the paper away from his face so that he could see the drawing clearly and blinked at the doodle. "What's this dear?"

"It's a leaf! I coloured it green 'cause... daddy said leaves are green!" she beamed and looked at her father excitedly, expecting a praise of sort.

Nataniele blinked again and returned his attention to the drawing. It wasn't really a drawing of a leaf, it was more like a doodle of a weird symbol for him; it shaped like a spiral, and at the end of the spiral, a short straight line was drawn perpendicularly to the spiral. At the other end of the spiral across the line were two lines that were drawn to be connected to the other AND the spiral, closing the gap as a triangle. Overall, the symbol looked like a spiral that had been shot through by an arrow which had gotten stuck half-way.

It was odd. His daughter had been drawing the same symbol for the past few weeks. In fact, that was the fifth drawing of the symbol for the day, and she gave the same answer every time he asked. That what she drew; the symbol was simply a _leaf_. This doesn't make any sense, since he had took it upon himself to teach his only child how to draw leaves that are really _leaves_. You know, the typical -round-shaped with a pointy kind of end- kind of leaf. He _wasn't_ much of an art people.

Normally he wouldn't really care about this odd behaviour since she was still young and was still in the phase where creativities are developing, but it was getting past the normal line and he was getting worried for his daughter. She and her _leaf drawings_ were starting to seem more like an obsession. Putting aside the fact that children –more often than not- had their own stuff for obsessions. He just couldn't put up with a weird 'leaf' symbol as her obsession. It's way too abnormal for his liking. Even obsessing over dresses and makeup sounded better to him. Of course, he hadn't had a child before Naru, so he had no idea what he was thinking about. If only he knew the horror of girls' shopping...

"It's lovely sweetheart. Now let's go and show it to mommy," he smiled sweetly and scooped her up, walking into the kitchen where his wife was.

"Mommy mommy! Look! I draw a leaf!" the little blonde grinned as she showed her mother the drawing, her pigtailed hair bobbing up and down as her father strode into the kitchen with her in his arms. Narcisa turned around and faced her beloved angel as she dried her hands with the kitchen towel.

"Let me see my angel's doodle," she cooed as her eyes travelled from the smiling child to the piece of paper. The happiness in her eyes died as she gazed at the symbol that was staring back innocently at her. She gave her husband a quick wary glance before changing her attitude one hundred eighty degrees, smiling jovially at her daughter, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. Of course, with Naru being a young four year-old, this went unnoticed by her.

Narcisa pecked on her cheeks and took the mini blonde into her arms as Naru giggled and started to chant, "Pin it up! Pin it up!"

Both blondes soon disappeared from the kitchen, leaving the man of the house alone in the brightly-colored kitchen. Said man could only sigh as he thought of the look his wife gave him. They would definitely have to discuss this issue; it was getting out of hand. Maybe they should prohibit her from drawing? But that might stunt her growth, and do more harm than good to their only child. Shaking out the thoughts, the blue-eyed man strutted out of the kitchen into the green room next to it; the room of fame. Well, at least it's a room of fame for Naru.

Most of her memorable moments and achievements in her short four years of life were posted on the wall; pictures of her a few hours old, her first steps, her first teeth, her first smile, up to her first drawings and poems that she made together with her parents. However, lately the wall was getting full of her _symbol_ drawings. This new drawing marked exactly the fiftieth _leaf symbol_ drawing in the room.

Naru beamed as her eyes wondered around the room, noting the assorted _leaves_ of different colours and sizes, the only constant being the shape. She turned around and faced her parents, hugging them in a tight embrace before dashing out of the room. Nataniele looked to his wife and mouthed the words, _"We'll talk about this later," _The older blonde could only sigh and nodded as she followed the little girl.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Good night sweetie," Narcisa kissed her daughter on the forehead after she managed to tuck in the hyperactive blonde that couldn't stop jumping around on the bed moments ago. She turned around and started picking up dirty laundries while clearing up the mess in her child's blue bedroom.

"Night mommy..."the child yawned as she shifted into a more comfortable position, hugging her huge brown Mr. Teddy as her earlier tiredness started to take a toll on her. The older blonde managed a soft smile as she went to the door, switching off the lights. Just before she exit the room, Naru's voice called out to her.

"Mommy... I want noodles... breakfast..." she drawled as sleep consumed her. Narcisa giggled as she closed the door, pondering on the flavour of the noodle for the following morning as she walked down the hallway to put the laundries in the laundry basket by the stairs before making her way to the master bedroom.

Narcisa sauntered into the room, her purple night gown fluttered with every step she made. Her eyes fell upon her husband who sat at the coffee table across their bedroom, his hands holding a book while adorning a pair of reading glasses that he was so fond of for it was a gift from his late mother.

She playfully hugged him from behind as he placed a bookmark into the book so that the page he was reading would not be lost before putting the book away on the table. They both shared a full kiss on the lip as he tugged on her hair.

"Where's Naru? Has she gone to sleep?" Nataniele asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he pulled her onto his lap, earning himself a surprised yelp from the blonde. She blushed; as red as tomato, while his fingers twirled around her bright hair as his left hand caressed her soft unblemished pale skin. Only this man could make her blush like a teenager even after being married for 5 years.

The blonde squirmed as he pecked on her neck mercilessly, all the while nipping and sucking on her pale skin with a chuckle. "Quit it dear! We have much more important matters to discuss!" His wife moaned as he pulled his head back, arguing childishly, "Aww... but we haven't had any time to ourselves for so long!"

Narcisa gathered herself quickly and stood up from the comfort of his warmth and sniped back as childishly, "Well, if you hadn't buried your nose in those books for ages then perhaps we _would _have gotten some time for ourselves."

"None tonight?"

"Nope. None of it tonight." The blonde climbed onto the king-size mattress and snuggled in the blue comforter. Nataniele sighed longingly as he pulled the comforters hard, snatching it away from his wife before hurriedly climbing onto the bed and used the comforters for himself.

"Hey!" she shouted indignantly and pulled back the comforters on her side. The blue-eyed man turned around to face his angel with a pout.

Said women stuck out her tongue in response and snuggled closer to her beloved, who in turn grinned and buried his face at the nape of her neck. Comfortable silence filled the room, both of them enjoying each other's presence.

Several minutes passed before Narcisa finally brought up her topic of discussion.

"Honey... what are we going to do about Naru?"

Her husband pulled his head back to look at her straight in the eyes, and sighed tiredly.

"Honestly? I have no idea."

"Do you think there's something wrong with her? Is it some kind of disease?" she asked anxiously, worried that their only child had suffered an unknown ailment.

He brought his arm up and massaged his temples, "As far as I know, there's no such disease. She doesn't have any symptom that shows any infection of a disease. Plus, what she had? It wasn't a delusion. She doesn't have any imaginary friends, so to speak. She just has this... unusual way of perceiving things. It'll just mean that she's more unique than others."

Narcisa sighed and rest her head against his chest. "She's unique, there's no doubt about that. She's our child after all. But her love with that... _symbol_... I think it's getting out of hand. I'm worried that other kids would treat her differently for that, or even worse, scorn her. I don't want that for our precious daughter."

"Neither do I..."

Silence rolled over to settle over the couple. Nataniele had almost fallen asleep when her voice woke him.

"Do you think... maybe... if we put her away from any paper or writing tool, that this would stop?"

Nataniele turned his head toward his wife sharply at that, almost hissing at her, "And then what? That would do more harm than good to her! For all we know, that might make her even more obsessive!"

"It's just a suggestion. I really don't know what to do anymore."

He calmed himself down and thought over his wife's idea again. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

"What if we introduce a new hobby to her? Maybe we should let her out to play more often, to put her interest away from drawing."

Narcisa gave a pointed look to him and almost snorted, "Play outside? You were the one who was so against that idea and decided to introduce _art_ to her. Well, it came out _brilliant,_ Mr. Vortice."

"I just can't stand the thought of how boys would look at her! Young boys, I can still tolerate it, but teenage boys! Teenaged for God's sake! Why can't they find somebody their own age? I know that our angel's extraordinarily beautiful-"

"Just like me." Narcisa cut in.

"-beautiful beautiful, just like you, yes, but she's only four years old! What kind of man would go after a young child?"

"Urm... paedophiles kind? The crazy ones, that maybe look feminine enough that people would thought he's a girl? The ones that would kidnap young boys and girls for their own personal entertainment?"

Nataniele had a sweat drop as he watched Narcisa pondered on other answers for the question cutely. The only thing that misfit into the whole thing was... that she was answering a weird and 'shouldn't be answered' kind of question.

"Honey..." he called in an amused tone to snap her back from her own world.

"Oops. Kind of got carried away there. But yeah, there you go. Paedophiles do exist out there. And you know what? She's only going to grow even more beautiful from now on..."

He groaned and slammed his face into the pillow. He could imagine how it would be like in the future. He would have to constantly put a check on her every five second just to make sure no one had done his angel wrong. And he could see that his daughter would have hundreds of suitors asking for her hand in marriage, and he would have to put a gun to their heads to actually get them to give up and leave him and his daughter alone. 'Oh the nightmare...' he groaned pitifully and moaned into the pillow. His words were muffled, but she was near enough to hear him.

"Oh GOD, why me?" Narcisa stifled her laugh with her hands and cleared her throat.

"Well, look at it this way; you would grow old knowing that you have a lovely and beautiful daughter to take care of you."

Silence reigned, and the doctor pulled away from the pillow, eyes full of mirth.

"Yeah, I guess my old wife isn't cut out for that anymore. She would grow wrinkles all over her face, and I can't imagine-"

"Hey!" she pinched him on his arms playfully and roared out in laughter when her husband decided to level the playing field by attacking her ticklish spots. "Stop! St- Oh God, stop!" she gasped out in between breaths, trying to pull away from the man with futile.

She was starting to strike back at him when a loud scream pierced through the air.

Their eyes widened, both of them were frozen in their place. Only one word goes through their mind.

"Naru!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naru was having a sweet dream. She was in a colourful and refreshing flower field, surrounded by hundreds of flowers and plants of different species and colours, with the occasional soft breeze slipping in between her hair. Her light green skirt blended in well with the scenery, while her white top shone bright in the sun, glowing with innocence.

She giggled as she twirled around the grass, whirling her brown Mr. Teddy along. Soon she came to a stop, and kneeled down on the ground, her left hand clutching her beloved toy as she picked her favourite sunflowers from the ground. She hummed a tune that was unfamiliar to her, but felt just right. The tune itself sounded sad, as if the song was filled with _grief and sorrow_, but somehow, she felt that the tune fits her, and that made her four year-old mind puzzled.

Why would she feel sad, and felt that such tune would fit her? She _was_ happy with her life so far, her parents _were _loving, everyone _was_ kind to her, so why? Isn't that normal for every children? So why would she feel so content and... different? And why was it that her tears came rolling down her cheeks?

Naru sniffed and wiped her teary eyes with her hand, and gave her Mr. Teddy a squeeze. A small smile graced her lips, as she continued humming the sad tune.

However, something unexpected happened when the tune came to an end. Her happiness and content were immediately replaced by clutching hands of fear that gripped her beating heart.

Drops of liquid blotched onto her face, signifying her that something was wrong. She slowly placed a finger on her face, and wiped the substance off. She stared at her finger and trembled. She had seen this stuff before, when her father had done his job helping wounded people. It was... she recalled, 'the substance of life', as her father had told her. She returned staring at her finger. It was red. It was the 'substance of life'. It was...

_Blood._

Naru freaked out and immediately wiped off the blood with her skirt. She stood up and looked around frantically, eyes panicked and lips trembling, as she searched around her for any odd or bizarre changes to the scenery.

There was none.

Then another few drops of blood fell onto her skin, smearing her white top and pale skin with the red liquid. Slowly she looked up to the sky, and felt her fear heighten.

The sky was dark and covered with colossal raining clouds, erasing any sense of peaceful blue from sight. She stared as the sinister clouds began spewing out its contents onto the Earth.

And the contents were red.

Dark red.

Soon the whole flower field was pretty much red from all the rain of blood. And wherever the blood touches, the flower would wilt and melt as if the blood were hot lava. Naru hugged Mr. Teddy and herself tightly, her eyes scrunched up tight to avoid looking from the whole disturbing sight. Her whole being was soaked red from the liquid, from her bright blonde hair to her light green skirt, nothing was left untouched.

She whimpered in fear, trying to calm down and convinced herself that she was in a dream, which technically, she was, but the whole setting was too realistic for her mind to believe otherwise. She remained frozen at the same spot for quite awhile, until she heard a weird sound of something wet slapping on the ground.

She wearily opened her eyes to look at the source of the sound, and immediately wished she hadn't.

A human boy, or what used to be a human boy; since his fleshes were rotten and one of his red eyes were popped out, dangling out his face by a vein, was heading towards her. His raven hair was smeared with blood like she was, though his tend to stuck up more than hers did. He wore a metal headband with a very familiar symbol etched on it. Before she could mull over it, her eyes fell onto his right hand that reached out to her as if he was trying to grasp her as he voiced out her name with a hoarse, unused voice, **"Na...ru..."**

'How does he know my name?' she wondered, and before she could stop herself, she unconsciously whispered out a name as an involuntary response to his calling.

"Sa-Sasuke?"

'Who's Sasuke?' she questioned herself inwardly, wondering just how did the name came to her mind. Before she could contemplate it further, more figures rose from the ground like the zombies they were, all of them had rotten fleshes, bathed in the same blood that covered the whole place. And it was then that she noticed that every single one of them had the same symbol of _Leaf_ somewhere on their body.

One of the figures had bright silver hair, with a similar metal headband covering one of his eyes and a mask covering the lower part of his face. The other one was a girl with cheery pink hair and emerald eyes, just like her mother's. And there were two other figures that stood out to her. It was a woman with red hair and a pair of sky blue eyes similar to her own. She stood beside a man, who if she hadn't known better, would have thought to be her own father, for he bore a striking resemblance to her; the same shade of blonde hair and facial features. His darker blue eyes bored deep into her, and she wondered if her real father had blonde hair instead of black, that they could have been brothers.

**"****Come back to us... Naru..." **the pink haired girl that was dressed in tattered red clothes stepped forward towards her.

**"****Back... to the Leaf..." **this time the masked guy moved forward.

**"****Come... child..." **the woman with red hair commanded with such coldness, that Naru involuntarily shivered as a reaction.

**"****...To be with us... your parents... your friends... your comrades... your beloved Leaf... isn't that what you want... Naru...?" **the blonde man mocked her and walked towards her, as did every other figure in that area.

Naru wanted to run. She wanted to escape from all this nightmare and surreal dream. She wanted to scream for help and to be covered in comfort and warmth of her parents, to be told that everything was all right, and that this was just a dream, a realistic dream.

But her body wouldn't move. She was stuck there as if she had her feet glued to the ground. Then she felt something shifted inside. All of a sudden, she felt as if she wasn't in control of her body any longer. It was as if a different mind had taken over her body, and that she was merely a spectator.

'She' looked up to the approaching figures that could easily tower over 'her', and whispered out a few words to them, "I'm sorry... everyone..."

Then Naru felt as if she had been slammed back into her own body, for she felt her control returned. She stepped back from the figures, ready to run if her life depended on it, when she heard a malevolent chuckle from somewhere near her. Her eyes slowly shifted down, and found her Mr. Teddy moved, slowly turning its head around to face her, his black button eyes were replaced with red eyes swirling with malice, an evil grin adorned its thread lips.

**"****Saa... what are you going to do now... Naru...?" **her bear said to her in a singsong tune, before cackling insanely in her face. Naru shrieked and let go of her toy, stumbling on her feet to get herself running, only to find that several hands had shot up from the ground to hold her there.

The possessed bear strolled forward, as did the other zombie figures, as they quickly gained on her. Naru swatted her arms around her blindly, in attempt to prevent them from getting closer to her, but it was futile. The rotten figures began grabbing her everywhere they could, and pulled her toward them. She tried fighting against them, but it was proven useless as did her previous efforts.

**"Come back with us..."**

**"Where are you going...?"**

**"Come back to the Leaf..."**

**"Are you going to betray the Leaf?"**

**"Why did you leave us?"**

**"Why won't you die!"**

**"Didn't you promise to die with us?"**

**"You said we would be together for eternity... Naru..."** 'Sasuke' said as his emotionless voice turned to rage.

"NO! Leave me alone! Go away! Go away! GO AWAY!" Naru screamed her heart out to the crimson sky.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Narcisa and Nataniele rushed into Naru's bedroom, only to find their beloved daughter thrashing about her bed. Her small body writhed in pain, as she gasped out in pain. Nataniele turned the lights on while Narcisa headed straight for the bed and cradled Naru in her arms.

"Shh sweetie. It's all right. It's all right. Everything is going to be all right..." she hummed a soft tune that she always played for her daughter, caressing her hair as did Nataniele. Naru started to relax and her breath began to stabilize. After awhile, Naru squirmed and opened her bleary eyes.

"Mommy...? Daddy...?"

"Everything is fine now sweetheart... Everything is fine..." Nataniele kissed her cheek in assurance.

"There were these... people... and they wouldn't leave me alone... they wanted me to go with them... to the Leaf... I told them to go away, but they wouldn't... and I'm scared. I'm scared, Mommy, Daddy..." Naru whimpered against her mother's chest. Narcisa patted her head softly and whispered to her, "It was just a dream, dear... just a dream... a bad dream..."

Naru nodded and snivelled, relishing in the comfort of her two parents. Soon she fell asleep again, this time without the company of any dream.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"It was the _Leaf_ again..." Narcisa shoved the laundry into the washing machine angrily, and pressed the buttons tiredly. Nataniele sighed as he turned a page of the newspaper that had just arrived to their doorstep a moment ago.

Narcisa headed over to the table and served the breakfast, noodle soup. Nataniele raised an eyebrow at the sight of the day's breakfast, and asked his wife amusedly, "Noodles? In the morning?"

Narcisa chuckled and plopped down on a seat across him, "Naru wanted noodles for breakfast. Can you really refuse her request when she gave you her cutesy pie face?"

"Aah..." Nataniele agreed knowingly. No one could resist her charm, not him, not his wife, and certainly not every other adult in the village, and Naru, knowing that fact, had taken great advantage of it. That sly, sneaky angel of his-

"So what now?" his wife asked as she spread the butter on her bread using the bread knife.

"What what?"

"The _Leaf._ She mentioned it in her nightmare last night. I can't believe that it had gone that far, for it to haunt Naru in dreams even."

"That's true. I don't think we can delay our decision any longer. Her drawing obsession must be stopped immediately," the blue-eyed man swallowed a spoonful of his wife's noodle soup.

"Which means...?" she folded the bread gently and took a small bite of it. "She's going out to play. No more drawing in the house, for at least a week."

Just then the sound of small steps resounds throughout the house, as Naru stomped down the stairs energetically. "Good morning Mommy! Good morning Daddy!" she rushed to hug both of them and quickly plopped down onto her chair, squealing with delight when she saw the breakfast of the day, "Yay! Noodles! Thank you Mommy! Love you!" she grinned before wolfing down her entire proportion of food.

"Manners, Naru. Manners." Her mother warned amusedly, while her father laughed heartily at her cute antics.

Soon enough she was done, and as always, she had finished ahead of her parents, despite having a smaller mouth and stomach. How she had managed for that feat to happen, no one would ever know.

Naru fidgeted on her seat as her eyes wandered around the house, thinking and planning her activities today. Deciding that there weren't anything better to do, she settled on doing the same thing she always did. "Daddy, can I have some papers please? I want to draw." She grinned as she jumped out of her seat, ready to go to her father's private office to snatch some papers, not noticing the quick exchange between her parents.

Nataniele cleared his throat, quickly gaining the whole attention from Naru. Naru wondered quizzically; usually her father would just give a quick approval and she would begin her daily drawing activities. So why would today be any different?

"Naru sweetheart, today we're going out to play." Nataniele smiled at her.

Simultaneously the two blondes gave a questioning glance at him.

"Outside?" Naru wondered excitedly.

"We?" Narcisa raised an eyebrow at her husband's choice of word.

Nataniele chuckled nervously as he cowers under Narcisa's deathly gaze, "Yeah... I'm going with her..."

The elder blonde narrowed her eyes at that answer, "Oh? And why would that be?"

Meanwhile, Naru was asking both of her parents; who sadly, seemed to ignore her, of whether they were really giving her permission to go outside. She had always wanted to play outside with children her age, but her father would always refuse, saying that she was too young to understand the dangers of the real world. She was often confused by her father's words, for she only wanted to play outside with the other kids. So what kind of danger was out there?

Her father seemed to think that the _boys_ are the _danger_, apparently. Though Naru didn't know that.

"Mommy! Daddy! Can I really go out and play? Can I? Can I?"

"Well I can't just leave her alone with those savages! Who knows what they might do to her!" Nataniele cried out in response to his wife's question, ignoring her daughter's question in favour to winning this debate against his wife.

"Mommy! Daddy! Can I really really really really really go and play outside? That would be cool! Can I really play outside? Ca- What are savages?" Naru questioned, turning her head to the side slightly.

"Nothing dear. Daddy is just spouting nonsense. And yes you can play outside, just wait for a minute until mommy is done with daddy here. All right sweetie?"

Naru nodded enthusiastically and sprinted off elsewhere, leaving her parents alone as requested by her mother.

"Now... you. What were you thinking, shouting off words like _savages_ in front of Naru?" Narcisa asked murderously, hint of reds were swirling around at the back of the precious emerald eyes.

"Erm... That was an accident! I didn't mean to say it out loud..." he grinned nervously.

"Which means that you really think of the boys as savages deep inside," Narcisa sighed at her husband's over protectiveness, "For God's sake, Nataniele, they're just children! They're still young, pure and innocent, just like our little Naru!" she sighed exasperatedly.

"Well that's what you think. I've seen and known better... I know that boys would-"

"And what were you going to do about your work, if I may ask? Your mountains of paperwork?" she cut in, promptly stopping Nataniele's speech of '_Boys are Savages in the making!_'. Nataniele began to sweat profusely at the thought of his papers and records waiting to be updated. Even though he was just a doctor of a small village that opened up a family clinic, he had mountains of paperwork concerning the health record of every single resident of the village which needs to be constantly updated, giving him terrible headaches as of late.

Narcisa continued without waiting for him to reply, "And not to mention that today you have appointments to do checkups on two whole families of Grosso and Tariano..."

Nataniele began to pale considerably. It wasn't that he hated the two families; it was just that they had proven themselves to be _difficult_ when doing checkups. He usually had to spend the whole evening to finish doing checkups on a whole family, but now, two of them? He was doomed, and he knew it. He really should start writing his will now.

"Therefore... You. Are. Not. Going. Anywhere...!" Narcisa finished with a murderous glint in her eyes, holding a lash in her hands.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"_Noooooo!"_

Naru's ears perked at the faint shout that suspiciously sound like her father. But that couldn't be it, could it? Her father _was strong, proud _and_ manly _in her eyes. He wouldn't actually _shriek_ like a _girl, _would he?

Naru promptly ignored that line of thought and returned to stare at her most favourite toy, Mr. Teddy. It was weird. The night before, she would hug the bear tight as if he was her only friend in the whole world, but now? She felt fear when looking at the bear and the weird thing was that she couldn't for her life remember exactly why that would be. What could have happened that would make her feel scared of her favourite toy?

She had tried to focus and concentrate to the best of a four year olds' ability to find out or remember the reason for the change, but it was as if there was a barrier around her mind, protecting her from said memories. But that shouldn't be possible, right? Unless magic exist... although her mother had said that there's no such thing as magic. But it would have been really cool if she indeed wields some magic, 'Totally...' she mused.

She heard footsteps heading towards her room, and judging from the lighter and quicker footwork she knew that it was her mother. Quickly she stuffed her former favourite bear into the old toy box and waited excitedly for her mother's approval to go outside.

Sure enough, moments later her mother had entered the blue room.

"Mommy Mommy! Can I go and play outside please?" she asked anxiously, her brilliant blue eyes shone with hope for approval.

"Of course sweetie. Now let's get you all cleaned up and you're ready to go!" Narcisa laughed as she watched Naru jumped around the room excitedly.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Aww you look so cute and absolutely adorable sweetie!" Narcisa squealed as finished her touch on her daughter. She had Naru wear her blue knee-length skirt with a white blouse, while her soft blonde hair was tied up into a pair of high ponytails. Narcisa had no doubt that she would have attracted many boys later on, even more so when she grew up older. She can't wait to see how beautiful her daughter would be; perhaps people would even consider her angel as her little sister?

"Thank you mommy! Can i go now?" her eyes shone with excitement as she squealed with delight. Narcisa giggled at her cute little girl's antics, "Just be patient for a little longer sweetie. He should be here any moment now."

Just then the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house, "There he is!" Narcisa smiled wide and lead Naru to the door. The door opened to reveal a young boy only a few years older than Naru at the doorstep. He wore a gray shirt with short sleeves, as well as a pair of black trousers. He had messy black hair that gave him a bed hair look while his eyes were hazel with a light tint of red.

"Naru, this is Alexis. He is four years older than you, and mommy had asked him to take care of you and bring you around the village. Now be a good girl and listen to him, all right?" Narcisa patted the little blonde's head, before addressing said boy, "It's good to see you Alexis,"

"Good day to you, Ms. Vortice," he replied politely. Naru stared at the new boy with wonder, and he couldn't help but blush at her stare even though she was four years younger than him.

"Alexis, I'm sorry to bother you, but I can't really see anyone else helping my dear girl here, and I believe the two of you would get along just fine. Isn't that right Naru?" Narcisa continued on, not noticing the light blush that graced the boy's face.

Alexis had come to help Nataniele every so often, though it was the first time for him to meet Naru directly. Usually Naru was sleeping, or was in her room playing when he had come over to help. It doesn't help that he was often working in Nataniele's office which Narcisa had warned her daughter to not enter unless it was important, for fear of disturbing her husband's work.

"It's all right Ms. Vortice, I don't have any plans for today, and I was thinking of getting some fresh air as well, so this works in my favour." They boy smiled gently, avoiding the gaze from the little blonde.

"That's great then. I'll leave you two to get to know each other, and then you're free to go. Take care of her Alexis." Narcisa bid them goodbye and headed into the house, intending on finishing up her chores.

Once her mother had gone inside, Naru immediately turned to Alexis and gave him a cheerful greeting, "Hi! My name's Naru, and I'm four years old!"

The boy chuckled at her enthusiasm, and decided to greet her back just as enthusiastic, "Hey there! I'm Alexis, currently eight years old, and I stay near your house!" Naru grinned and nodded, deciding that that was a good introduction enough and that they should be moving on, "Let's go!" she shouted excitedly and pulled the surprised boy along.

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was getting late now, and they should be getting back soon. Alexis was walking her home, though Naru was a bit reluctant to go back. She had wanted to stay outside and play a little bit longer; she hadn't had as much fun before, and dare she said that it was one of the best day in her lives. She had made her first friend; Alexis, and found him to be companionable. He had played along with her most of the time, put up with her whim, and the most important thing was that he loved noodles as much as she does!

And then there were the other kids. All of them had befriended her well, and accepted her into their circle even though she was the youngest among them. The youngest member next to her was a six year old girl, who she had befriended easily. They had played many games that she had never known existed, and simply put, she had a blast.

She had also visited the villages' shops and houses with Alexis, and it was a refreshing sight for her to see the other villagers in their houses instead of when they came to her place for checkups and appointments with her father. It wasn't that her parents had never brought her out to walk around the village before, but going out with friends instead of parents certainly felt refreshing and different. Her day couldn't have gotten any better, for sure.

They were only a few houses away from their destination, when Naru felt something tugged at her heart. She stopped walking and turned around to face the direction where the wind seemed to guide her. Alexis who had noticed her stopping and approached her, trying to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly whipped her head around to face him, shouted, "Be right back!" and dashed off towards the direction of the forest.

Alexis was stunned for awhile, before he swore and rushed off to follow her.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naru stepped into the bushes and started looking around as she panted for air; she had never felt so anxious before, her heart was beating real fast and she had no idea why that would be so. She peered around the trees, searching for anything that could have made her apprehensive. She took a few steps around the forest, and stopped dead in her tracks when she found a sight that made her heart wrenched.

It was a red fox kit. It was lying down on a clearing, too weak to move about as its body was bleeding, and its white and reddish fur was smeared with its blood. The small fox yipped softly at her, trying to get away from the stranger.

Naru knelt down near the fox as an image of a giant red fox with nine tails flashed through her mind. All of a sudden she felt tears rolling down her cheek, and she blinked in surprise when she noticed that the tears were her own. She wiped off the tears with her sleeve with a puzzled thought, before shrugging it off and reached out for the wounded animal and petted it softly, trying to assure the animal that she wouldn't hurt it.

The baby fox was soon charmed by her and accepted her gestures with a nod to her hand. Naru smiled and gathered the fox kit in her arms, wincing slightly at the extent of the fox's injury.

She heard the bushes rustled from the direction she had came in, and waited for Alexis to come. Sure enough, moments later the boy busted through the bushes with a loud pant, relief could be clearly seen on his face when he found the blonde girl. He turned on a stern face to lecture her for her recklessness but faltered when he saw the sight of blood on her blouse which had come from the animal that was in her arms.

"Naru, w-what..?" he stuttered at the sight, trying to comprehend the whole situation.

Naru moved past him and into the bushes, trying to head back home to treat the wounded fox, "The fox is not well. I need to go home now," she said briskly and was gone from the clearing as soon as she had said that. Alexis nodded numbly and followed her quietly, too dumbfounded to say anything.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Narcisa had just finished drinking her evening tea while relaxing on the chair, treasuring the quiet evening that she could scarcely take pleasure in once she had Naru. That little angel of hers could never sit still and be quiet, so she hardly has a chance to enjoy her evening peacefully. Though she would definitely choose her daughter above all else; she was already missing her darling girl.

The doorbell rang and she quickly got up to open the door. She knew that it had to be Naru and she could barely wait to ask her and Alexis if they had fun and see how far they had gotten along. What she didn't expect was for Naru to be smeared and covered in blood, while carrying what seemed to be a dead animal.

"Naru? What happened sweetie?" she knelt down to her level and grabbed her shoulders, and turned to face Alexis next, "What happened Alexis?"

However it was Naru who answered her, since the boy was still stunned from the recent event.

"I found a wounded fox, mommy. I think Daddy could treat it..." she whispered softly to her mother, her eyes cast downward.

"Is the poor animal even alive right now?" Narcisa asked her daughter carefully, worried for how her daughter would react if the fox was indeed dead.

"It's alive, but barely. We need to be quick if we want to heal it," Alexis answered for the little blonde.

Narcisa sighed and stood up before asking amusedly, "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's be quick then," Naru looked up to her with relief and nodded quickly before swiftly heading inside, with the injured fox safely clutched in her arms.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Nataniele stretched and popped his bones, and yawned tiredly as he walked out from his operation room. He was immediately tackled by the mini blonde, who had taken it upon herself to be the owner of the fox.

"How was it? Is the fox okay now?" she asked anxiously. Nataniele grinned and ruffled her hair fondly before nodding his head as an affirmative. The blonde whooped in joy and ran to the kitchen to tell Alexis and her mother of the news. Nataniele chuckled and made his way there as well.

When he reached there, he could hear Naru's loud voice echoing throughout the kitchen, "-said it's okay! Daddy said it's okay now!"

Narcisa laughed at the the girl's antic and decided to calm her down, just as Nataniele entered the kitchen. Narcisa glanced at her husband as she managed to hold Naru down to sit on her chair, "How is the fox? Was the injury that bad?"

"No, it wasn't that deep. It's just that the fox had lost a lot of blood, which was the reason why it's so weak right now. We need to take better care of it to make sure it is healed properly." He moved over to the sink and washed his hands before grabbing a mug and proceeded to making a cup of black coffee.

Then the inevitable question came, "Erm... Mommy? Daddy? Can I make the fox my pet, please...?"

The married couple glanced at each other discretely; both of them knew that this was their best bet to get Naru over her _Leaf_ obsession. Once she had something else to focus on, like playing and taking care of a pet, she wouldn't stay indoor as much would certainly not drawing as often. And so it was decided that the fox would be welcomed into their family.

"Sure sweetheart. Of course you can," Nataniele chuckled as Naru hugged her parents tightly, and proceeded to talk animatedly to Alexis. Narcisa decided to leave the kids alone and pulled her husband, who cringed at the sight of his little angel getting closer with another male, out of the kitchen.

Soon the two kids were left alone, and Alexis decided to ask the blonde a question, "Have you decided the name of your new pet?"

Naru grinned at him and nodded enthusiastically, "Yup! Kyuubi!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

And that's the end of Chapter 2. Sorry if this chapter seemed rushed. I kind of wanted to get this chapter over with since I still have my final exams this Friday.

I've decided to write the story in Naru's perspective from her childhood until the beginning of the -Man story, since the rest is pretty much canon, until after she met Allen and certain others. It wouldn't be practical for me to give her flashbacks often, since some of the plot is tightly bounded to her childhood. I might as well tell her childhood story, with time skips here and there. And she wouldn't meet Allen until at least another 2 chapters. At least.

I'm actually torn between pairing her with Allen or Lavi. At first I wanted to pair her with Allen, no question. Then suddenly Lavi seemed like a good pairing too, and I seriously can't decide between the two. I might ended up with AllenxFemNaruxLavi, I guess.

And the song that she hummed in her nightmare was "Grief and Sorrow", a Naruto OST, if you hadn't guessed.

Alexis is just some random OC that I created on the spot. He wouldn't be that important later on.

Again, sorry if the chapter seemed rushed. I hadn't really want to write it this long, I was planning on a shorter chapter, but in the end it still got kind of long. Meh. This'll do.

Well if you guys would kindly review...

See you guys around then. Peace out. (^_^)


	3. Chapter 3

Kitsune of Innocence

Chapter 3: Fateful Encounter

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Wake up, wake up, brush your teeth~ Good morning! Wake up, wake up, and wash your face ~ Good morning! Wake up, wake up, brush your-"

A tiny hand slammed onto the clock, effectively stopping the annoying morning chant. Naru moaned as she peeked at the time from underneath the cover. The white custom-made alarm clock adorned with the carved wooden figurines of her and a certain fox 'sitting' above the clock face, stood proudly on top of her bedside table as it present to her the current time, which was 9.00 am in the morning. Naru groaned and pulled back the covers to protect her poor eyes from the glaring sunlight and snuggled deeper into the red fur coat lying beside her. She was starting to snore lightly when the door was slammed open and a cheery voice boomed throughout the room.

"Good morning! Wake up sweetheart! Wakie wakie~" Nataniele grinned and pulled the cover off the bed, exposing his little daughter along with her pet fox to the daylight. Naru involuntarily shivered as her slightly tan skin was exposed to the cool crisp air. She felt around her bed for something warm with her eyes closed in effort to escape the bright sunshine, and felt something warm and furry. Groggily she pulled the warm 'something' towards herself with her right hand, earning an angry yip and a sharp pain on her ring finger.

"Ow!" Naru opened her bleary eyes to look down at the cause of her pain, only to find an angry red fox biting her finger. No wonder the poor fox bit her; she was pulling the fox's sensitive tail. The blonde girl nursed her unfortunate finger as she petted her personal pet while muttering a quick 'sorry' towards the fox.

An amused chuckle broke her thoughts, and she looked up to find her father standing at the end of her bed amusedly, "I'll have to remember to use Kyuu to wake you up next time," he joked. Naru rolled her eyes and whined, "Daddy, why do you have to wake me up? It's barely past nine!" She really wasn't a morning person. Well, she used to be last time, just like her parents, but ever since she was in the company of her furry, warm and soft pet fox, it felt nicer to just sleep in cuddling to said fox.

"I believe that nine is quite late already, dear," He winked, before half-scowling at the next sentence, "And besides, Alexis is waiting downstairs for you,"

'Alexis? What is he doing here? And at this hour?' Naru pondered drowsily as she pet Kyuubi; her pet fox, or in short, Kyuu. Then her eyes widened as she remembered her promise to join the other kids' _secret _expedition to the _haunted _shack in the forest. Well it was a secret since according to one of them; they had been warned to not go near the shack by their parents. So every one of them had sworn to secrecy and was not to mention about the expedition to any adults.

Now she remembered why she had used the annoying alarm for her custom-made clock which she had gotten as a birthday gift from her mother last year. Usually she would have chosen another music or song that was easier to the ear as the alarm, but she had purposely chosen the stupid chant to wake her up. She glanced at the clock and nearly groaned when she saw that it was 9.15 am.

The expedition would start in half an hour.

'Well shit,'

Well that was what she wanted to say out loud, but her father definitely won't approve of her hanging out with the other kids if he found out how many cuss words she had learned from them.

So she settled for something lighter and simpler.

"Aw shoot!" she quickly got up from her bed and darted into the bathroom past her frowning father who kept muttering, "Language Naru, language," She rolled her eyes and would have ignored him if she hadn't known how persistent her father could be if she wouldn't listen to him. She had first-hand experience with that already. "Sorry Daddy," She said quickly and turned to face her fox that would stick with her through thick and thin.

"Come on Kyuu! Time for shower!" the fox yipped happily and followed her owner into the bathroom. The bathroom door closed with a click, and Nataniele shook his head as he smiled softly and walked out of her daughter's bedroom.

It had been two years since they had welcomed Kyuu into their family, and he was extremely glad that they did. He was a bit reluctant and had some doubt in the beginning, since foxes weren't really known as tame domestic pets; they _were_ carnivorous animals after all. But the well being of his daughter came first above all else, and both he and Narcisa were running out of ideas to pull Naru away from her obsession of _leaf. _They decided that the fox kit could be their chance, and he was glad that they were right.

Now not only was Naru over her little obsession; she drew more than simply a leaf nowadays, like people and scenery- but she even smile a lot more and have a pet to keep her company to boot! It wasn't that both he and his wife wouldn't spend time with her, but their work often kept them busy. He really wished he could took a few days off just to relax and have some leisure time with his family, but as a doctor he wasn't really in the position to choose when or where he would work; emergencies could come up at any time after all. Not to mention the number of sick elderly in the village…

And seeing that his wife was his assistant, and has to make all sorts of medicines whenever she was free to keep on replenishing his drug rack that was quickly waning, she wasn't in the position of a day off either.

Hence he was glad that Naru had found a companion in her pet fox; she wouldn't grow up as lonely as he had.

"Where's Naru?"

His wife's lovely voice broke him out of his musing and he looked up to peck his wife on her lips. He grinned before indicating upwards with his finger, "She just woke up, as usual. She's taking a shower with Kyuu right now,"

"Okay," She smiled at the thought of her cute daughter then headed to the living room where Alexis was.

"Alexis," She called out to him while carrying the day's laundry to be hanged outside at the clothesline. Said boy immediately looked up to acknowledge her call. "Naru will be down any minute now. Wait just a little longer, alright?" she said and disappeared behind the wall without waiting for his answer.

The ten year-old merely nodded and let his eyes wander around the comfortable living room. The walls were painted lavender, and there were a few paintings hanging by the wall. The couch he was sitting on was dark red, while the table and a cabinet were made of dark wood. At the corner of the room was a dark bookcase that matched the whole theme of the living room. Many type of books filled the tall bookcase; medical books to botany, fairy tales to novels, archaeological and many other miscellaneous assorted books. He had to admit, though the decoration wasn't what one would call exquisite, the furniture were cleverly coordinated to pull off an elegant touch to the living room. It doesn't matter how many times he had been here; he would always feel something akin to awe and admired the well-decorated living room. And the fact that the whole room gave off a familiar homely feeling was definitely a plus.

Loud pounding against the stairs alerted him to the arrival of the person he was waiting for. A few quiet moments followed, before a blonde girl popped her head from beyond the wall to look at him. She grinned sheepishly and fully emerged to greet the boy.

"Cadet Naru, reporting!" she saluted playfully while Kyuu sneaked in between her legs, also acknowledging the boy with a yip. She was dressed in an orange top and a pair of black pants, with her hair tied into her signature twin ponytails.

"You are late, cadet! As a punishment, you must do 10 pushups!" Alexis growled humorously.

Naru pouted at that and whined "But sir, it's not my fault I woke up late! Blame cadet Kyuu for being damn comfortable!"

Kyuu twitched and yipped glaringly at the blonde girl as if she understood that she was being framed for something she didn't do. Meanwhile Alexis was frantic and covered the little girl's mouth to avoid any colorful cuss words from flowing out in fear of the Vortice pair discovering the bad words they had been teaching her.

"Shh! Not so loud! Believe me; you don't want to get caught by your parents,"

Naru smiled sheepishly and nodded before gaining the freedom to use her mouth again.

"Are we late?" Naru inquired as she retrieved her orange adventure hat from the standing coat hanger by the door.

Alexis shook his head and opened, "Nah, I think the guys are gonna be late too. You know they can be heavy sleepers, just like you,"

"You're the only morning riser here," Naru muttered under her breath before putting on her boots and closed the front door.

"Mommy! I'm going out to play now!" Naru shouted at her mother who was outside at the backyard hanging wet clothes.

The blonde girl scurried towards the playground with the older boy and fox in tow. A few minutes later, they arrived at their 'base', and true to his word, none of their gang had gathered up yet.

"Aww man! I woke up early for nothing!" the girl whined before plopping down on the patch of grass beneath the biggest tree in the area. Alexis followed suit and lied down.

"That should be my line, you know,"

Naru stuck out her tongue and proceeded to pet her fox, Kyuu. While waiting for their friends, Naru idly wondered about her life ever since Kyuu came into the family.

Ever since Kyuu came, she felt as if a huge part of her had returned; the emptiness that she had felt when drawing the 'leaf' symbols back then had been immense, so much that even her parents' presence could not ease up her loneliness. Of course, she hadn't actually thought much about it, since she was a mere four year old at the time, but once she had felt the wholeness that came with her pet fox, only then she realized how empty she had been back then. The question that continually tugs at her mind was, why?

Why did she feel whole with the presence of Kyuu? Is it only with Kyuu, or could it have been possible with any other company? Why?

Since only two years had passed by, and she was but a child that had only recently started learning to read and gain knowledge, her mind is yet capable of answering question of such stature.

Her eyes traveled down to her loyal companion, and she blinked in surprise when she saw that Kyuu was exhibiting nine red foxtails. Naru blinked a few more times and rubbed her eyes gingerly, before returning her gaze at Kyuu.

One tail.

Weird.

"What's wrong? Dust got into your eyes?" Alexis inquired.

"Hmm yeah. A bit. I'm fine..." Naru mumbled and her eyes went glazed as she was reminded of her dreams.

Once or twice a week, she would have a vision or a dream regarding a certain fox.

A giant, nine-tailed red fox.

And the dreams were always the same. In that dream, she was a tall, beautiful, tanned teenager, wearing a strange outfit consisting of fishnets and orange clothing. Her shoulder-length hair curtains her heart-shaped face perfectly.

She stood in a dark and dirty sewer, with the water reaching her knees. Right before her, a woman in a beautiful and elegantly crafted traditional piece of black clothing that she subconsciously thought was called kimono, appeared. Her long, fiery red hair flows down her curves and frames her beautiful face. The red orbs of her eyes would be adorned with black slits, and three fine whiskers marked her flawless skin on each cheek.

And as always, the woman would give her a loving look and a hug, and she realized that they were very much similar like her own mother's. The lady would whisper something comforting into her ears, though she could never hear them. But somehow, she knew that the lady had whispered something comforting yet sad, as afterwards her body would shake and tremble, and tears would flow down her cheeks, unbidden. Truthfully, Naru wasn't sure what to make of the tears.

Was she sad? Or happy? Or both?

Nevertheless, the lovely lady would then release her, and changed.

By 'changed', Naru meant transformed.

Her ears would elongate and canine starts to grow. Her well-endowed body grows and red fur would cover her skin. Soon enough, a giant fox stood in her place.

A giant fox with nine red tails.

Surprisingly, Naru wasn't scared. Instead, she felt calm and protected, as if everything would be all right.

The next part of the dream was always a blur. She would hear clashes of metal and explosions, but her sight was too hazy she couldn't make out anything for sure. But she was certain, that there was a fight and battle of blows going on. This would go on for sometimes a few minutes, sometimes an hour, sometimes the whole day; she couldn't be sure as her sense of time was disturbed, probably because she was dreaming.

Eventually it would end with a roar of a fox she knew very well.

The giant fox crashed down heavily, causing a big tremor. She ran quickly to the fox, but it was too late. She felt anger coursing through her veins, and she was enveloped with rage and grief.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

And just like that, she would wake up on her bed; her eyes glistened with fresh tears.

It was rather fortunate that she had never once woken up screaming like she did in the dream. Surely, that would have alarmed her parents, and she really didn't want to make her parents worry.

At first, she hadn't thought much of that dream, but for the last two years, the dream had been recurring more often. Surely that could have meant something?

…

'_Nah,'_

Naru threw that thought out the window and continued petting the fox. She was just a six year-old after all; her brain wasn't accustomed to thinking that much. For now, she would rather play around all day to her heart's content, with her friends.

Speaking of her friends…

Naru pushed Kyuu off her lap and stood up crossly, pointing a finger at a lone kid approaching her spot.

"You're late!"

"Geez.. pipe down, Naru! I don't need to hear your freaking loud voice in the damn early morning," the tall boy grumbled while picking his right ear with a pinky finger. He had bright orange hair that stuck out messily and wore completely black attire of a t-shirt and pants. Being the oldest, he was easily the leader of their group, with Alexis as his second-in-command.

"Ugh. Black, again? Why don't you try out the orange awesomeness for once? Black so doesn't go with your hair," The blonde girl chided while looking at his clothing in distaste.

"Orange would be great… if I decide to blind everyone around me," the boy retorted before turning around facing Alexis. "The others couldn't come. Maybe we should postpone this to another day,"

"What? Why?" Alexis questioned the twelve year-old boy with a frown.

"No way! I've been anticipating this exploring thingy for days!" the blonde girl whined noisily. As a respond to her antics, Kyuu had snorted, as if she was saying 'and you didn't even remember about it this morning,'

"Mike's got a bad stomachache, Rose needs to help out with her parents at the shop, and both James and Lind got grounded because they freaking screwed up and told their parents 'bout the expedition," the boy clicked his tongue at the thought of other group members.

Naru pouted before jumping on Alexis' back and pounded on him. "Come on… why can't _we_ just go there?"

"Hey- Ow! Naru! Get down! You're pretty heavy for a six-year old, you know that?" as a respond to that, Naru started pounding even harder.

"Ow! Damn it- Naru! Ow! Hey Raph! Help me out here!"

"I ain't going anywhere near that rabid thing," The boy called Raph backed away from the two while holding his hands up just in case she decided to turn to him.

Naru, seeming to have caught on Raph's subtle joke decided to play along with him. "Roar! I'm your worst nightmare! Prepare to die!" Naru grinned wickedly before she secured herself on him with her legs and started to tickle him at his weak spots.

It was all Alexis could do to stop himself from laughing out loud from the nightmarish torture, and when Naru finally decided to go for the kill, his control was smashed into pieces.

Raph sweat-dropped and gave a pity glance at his second-in-command.

Naru-42, Alexis-41.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naru was walking back home with Kyuu, having said goodbye to her 'brothers' awhile back. On her walk home she can't help but be disappointed, having had to postpone her first -unauthorized- trip deep into the forest.

It wasn't that she wanted to go to the haunted shack so badly; instead all that she really wants was to explore the forest which seems to give out a comforting aura to her. She felt save and calm whenever she's near the forest, happy even.

All she wanted was to play in the forest for one day. One whole day.

Her parents were just overprotective, so much that she knew without asking that they would forbid her from stepping even an inch into the forest without their supervision.

'_Wait a minute,'_

She stopped walking. Kyuu, who noticed that her owner had stopped walking, had backtracked to Naru.

'_They didn't have to know,'_

Naru turned to stare at the forest near her house which was the thickest bunch of the forest around the village.

'_It's just the forest anyhow. It's not like there's a ghost in there. And it's still morning right now,'_ The quick mind of a six-year old processed the unlikeliness of a ghost appearing right then. To her, that was the only concerned danger of entering the forest.

Things like wild animals and cliffs never entered her young mind.

Naru scooped up her pet and walked towards the edge of the forest. Kyuu yipped at her, but Naru couldn't really make out what she was saying to her. A warning? Or excitement at the prospect of an adventure?

'_Just for a little while…'_

Just like that the little girl disappeared into the thick camouflage of the trees, accompanied by none but her loyal fox.

oOoOoOoOoOo

The forest, as she had thought, was indeed wonderful. There were trees everywhere all around her, with wild flowers and plants hanging all over them. Some of the sunlight managed to escape the greenery filter of dense leaves and made its way to the forest floor and provide food for the plants.

Naru hummed as she picked another wild flower that she recognized from her father's picture book. She scrutinized the blue flower before placing it in her hair. Somewhere in the clearing Kyuu could be seen jumping around chasing butterflies.

Naru giggled at seeing her cute pet fox playing around like the little kit that she was. Calmed and contented, she lied down on the patch of grass in the woods. True to her thoughts, Naru felt peaceful and serene once she had entered the woods. The place felt like home to her, just the way being with her parents had felt.

Peaceful.

Loved.

Why had her parents told her that the place was dangerous, when it's all beautiful and soothing?

The blonde girl scrunched up her face in thought, when she realized that the sky was turning red.

'_Oh no. It's this late already? I better get home soon,' _

She called for Kyuu by whistling, and the fox immediately climbed onto her person and perched on her small shoulder. Somehow the red fox managed to settle well and avoid from falling even though she's bigger than her owner's shoulder.

Naru turned to look around the clearing for the way to get back home… and felt herself growing nervous.

'_How did I get here again?'_

The blonde girl turned towards her pet, "Hey Kyuu, which way did we come from?" the little fox yipped and jumped down onto the ground and started sniffing their trails. It took quite awhile since their scents are pretty much all over the clearing, but the red fox finally detect their oldest scent which marks their first path into the clearing.

Having found the right trail, Kyuu yipped elatedly to Naru before dashing off into the woods. "Kyuu! Wait up!" the young girl ran trying to catch up to her partner.

Whilst Kyuu is a small kit fox that can be pretty nimble and fast, easily sneaking into the openings and avoiding any obstacles, Naru wasn't as agile and as the bigger human, there wasn't much space or openings that she could use. As a result, most of her exposed little body was adorned with new scratches and marks courtesy of the tree branches and thorns.

"Ow! Kyuu, wait for me!" Naru stopped to catch her hectic breath and rubbed the shallow wounds on her arms. Glancing at the red marks and the little blood that's escaping from her torn skin, she sighed.

"Mom and dad are so gonna be mad for this," She could already imagine being scolded by her parents and getting grounded for going off alone into the forest like she did. Shaking off the thoughts, she turned to look for her fox.

"Kyuu?"

The forest was awfully silent, without any padding noise of a running fox or breaking of the twigs. If she didn't know better, the world could have been dead without any living beings beside her.

Naru's little eyebrows creased as she slowly took a step and brushed the branches and small shrubs aside to get a better look around the forest.

"Kyuu? Where are you?"

She called out with a wavering voice. The sky was getting dark, and she didn't want to be alone at night without company. Naru rubbed her arms together to keep herself warm. The air was getting cold as the sun goes down, and her sleeveless shirt wasn't giving her much protection against the cold.

Anxiety crept up as she looked on the seemingly infinite forest that goes beyond what she could perceive. She decided to try and search for her pet fox once again and wandered about the forest while calling out for the female fox.

"Kyuu? Come out! Don't leave me alone.. Kyuu? Kyu-"

Her breath caught as she accidentally came across a cliff that goes several meters down. Her feet stopped right before she actually walked on the thin air before her. Quickly she pulled back her feet before losing her balance and released the breath that she was holding.

"Phew. That was dangerous..."

The blonde girl peered into the darkness of the cliff that goes beyond her eyes. She couldn't really guess how deep the cliff goes, as it was already dark and there wasn't any source of light in sight. But she presumed that it wouldn't be pretty if someone had a fall there. As she contemplated the dangers of such place, the sound of a breaking twig snapped her out of the stupor.

Startled, she quickly turned towards the noise, too quickly in fact, that she lost her balance at the most vital time.

Her eyes widened as she felt her feet leaving the solid ground, hands reaching out trying and failing to grasp for a branch out of reach. The short moment felt like hours as thoughts and memories of her short life reeled through her young mind.

'_..No…'_

The gravity finally works its natural course and began pulling onto her petite body. The rush of air slamming into her body snapped her out of daze and she began to scream out of fear. Naru began flailing around her arms, trying to grab anything that could possibly save her life. In the darkness of the night, she couldn't really see where could her lifeline possibly be, but after a few tries she managed to grab on what she guessed was a long root of a tree.

She seized the root and held on it tightly, face scrunched up in pain at the friction scraping onto the palms of her hands. Soon after her descent into the pit came to a stop, though she did not get out of it unscathed. Blood flowed down her arm as she tightens her grip onto the root, grimacing at the increase of pain coursing through her small body.

'_How far have I fallen? How much longer can I hold on like this..?'_

She looked up to make out the cliff where she had fallen off, but could not distinguish it in the darkness of the night. Panic started to grow as she racked her young mind for any kind of solutions, when a voice startled her out of her brainstorming.

"Hey! Are you alright!?"

Naru peered down below at the base of the cliff to find a small silhouette – '_Not an adult' – _she noted, holding an oil lamp upward towards her direction. The boy; as she had made out from his low vocal earlier seems to be only slightly bigger than her, so he was probably of the same age as her.

She felt massive relief from knowing that there was someone nearby that could help her out of this situation. She wasn't that far off from the ground, now that she can see with what little light that the boy brought with him, but it would still hurt badly if she were to jump off now.

Her hold on the root slipped and she skidded several feet down, the immense pain that coursed through her vein making her arms numbed.

'_I can't hold on any longer,'_

She tried calling out to the boy for help, but all that came out from her was a struggled moan. Alarmed by her weak response, the boy immediately put down the lamp and proceeds to climb on the slightly rocky hill to get to below her.

"Hold on!" the boy hollered when he noticed her skidding further.

Naru began to sweat profusely as her vision darkens. She could sense that she's losing the feeling in her limbs as dark spots began to cover her vision.

Her consciousness was slipping away, she knew that much. She won't be able to hold onto the root any longer, and she would fall…

And then..?

Her worn out mind couldn't even figure out the consequences of falling down to the ground. She couldn't even think any longer as her brain starts to shut down from the weariness. Her eyes fluttered shut as her consciousness left her, and her numbed arms lost the strength to continue gripping the root.

Her petite body seems to float for awhile before gravity started to pull on her body. She began descending to the ground, quickly accelerating. In a matter of seconds, her head would be smashing onto the rocky ground.

Just before her head collides with what could be the death of her, the boy managed to get to her in time, cushioning her fall with his own body.

"Oomph!" he groaned out at the impact made by the collision. He looked down to see the blonde girl on him, lying sideways with her back to him. He scrunched up his nose and reached out to turn her around.

He was momentarily stunned when he found a heart-shaped face framed with angelic blonde hair facing him. Her long eyelashes and pink lips fitted into the face perfectly like a doll.

Blood rushed into his cheeks as he continued staring at her, _'Pretty...'_

He continued staring at her for several minutes in daze when he heard a long, desperate yip from somewhere above him. He peered into the darkness above and wondered, _'Was she chased by a fox?'_

Returning his gaze back to the blonde girl, he now realized that she was injured. He shook his head, reprimanding himself.

"What was I doing? Better check if she has any other injuries," So he began examining the girl, taking great care so as to not aggravate her hand injuries. Finding out that there was none other injuries, he sighed in relief.

'_Seems that she's only out 'cause she's tired,' _He mused. He began poking at Naru's cheeks to wake her up.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

"Oi. Wake up," another poke. He inwardly sighed, and moved to make another poke when he heard another long yip echoed throughout the place, this time louder than the previous.

'_Is the fox getting closer? This is bad. We better get out of here,'_ He slowly picked up Naru and moved her gently over his back. He untied his sash and instead tied it around both his and Naru's waist, to prevent her from falling off his back.

Once he secured her position, he picked up the oil lamp with his right and began tracking down the forest path. He walked for about a mile before he stopped to readjust Naru's position as she was almost his size, although slightly smaller, and that was making it difficult for the young boy to keep her from falling off him.

The night air had become increasingly chilly, and he shivered involuntarily as a result. He sniffed the air and frowned, "It's going to rain soon. I better move fast," He picked up his pace and began to move about the forest nimbly, as if he knew the way around the forest like the back of his hand.

After about quarter of an hour, with several stops in between to re-secure Naru's position, they finally reached upon a wooden shack in the middle of the forest. The boy rapped his fingers on the door hard, all the while making sure that Naru's firmly placed on his back.

Shuffling sounds were heard beyond the door; someone inside seems to be getting to the door. After a few seconds the door was opened swiftly and-

"Brat, where were you goofing off? I told you to be back by- Who's that?"

The large man at the door gestured to Naru with a questioning look. The boy grinned helplessly and turned slightly to show her to him.

"Hey pops. Someone's injured. A little help?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

Naru moaned as she snuggled into the comfy covers, only to wince when her sore muscles protested the movement of her limbs. She groaned as she opened her eyes blearily, hands flailing around trying to reach for her non-existent clock and flinched in pain instead when her injured palm bumped into a bedside table.

'_Ow! Why is my body so sore? …and why are my hands wounded? Who bandaged them?' _She inspected her hands that were bandaged rather sloppily. Clueless, she got out of the bed and finally noticed the unfamiliar bedroom.

'_And where the hell am I?'_ the bedroom was rather plain, when compared to her own decorated room. The only furnishings that were placed in the room were the bed that she was laying in, a bedside table and a small dresser. Silence accompanied her along with the ticking clock on top of the dresser.

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

'_I really should get-'_

"Really now. A 9-year old brat like you can't even bandage a small wound like that properly?"

Naru was started when the voice boomed throughout the room like it was on a speaker. The rough voice of an adult seemed to originate from beyond the door. Slowly she crept near the door and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Shut up. Why should I learn? You're always the one doing the treatment anyway,"

This time a vaguely familiar voice permeated the door. Naru pondered on the familiarity when memories of last night's event flooded into her mind.

'_A-ha! Isn't that the boy last night?'_

"I won't always be around to mend you, you know,"

"…Hmph,"

She tried to open the door slightly so that she could take a peek on the two people conversing, but the rusty hinge of the door gave a loud creak, consequently notifying the two of them of her presence.

'_Oops.'_

"Hmm, seems like she's awake," the older man commented.

"Hn,"

Naru inwardly scolded herself for the giveaway. Somehow she knew that she could have done so much better than that, even though by right it was perfectly fine for a young civilian like her to have no knowledge of such sneaky skills.

Since they already found out that she's awake, she might as well get to know them, right? And it wasn't like they're bad guys, since they did patch up her wound after all…

Having decided that, she walked out of the bedroom and finally had a good look of her saviors.

The man sat on a wooden chair, his short, unruly crimson hair stood proudly on his head like burning flames. His muscular body suggested that he had been doing some heavy work that required strength. He wore a brown tunic and matching pants with black boots. Though his large build might cause people to be wary of him, his kind brown eyes told her otherwise.

Whereas the boy who had saved her the previous night was leaning against the dining table situated opposite of the larger man. He wore a knee-length brown pants and a forest green shirt secured by a white sash, completed with his black boots that were covered with dirt. He had wild, spiky crimson hair similar to the older man, though his hair seemed to explode outwards from the centre. His sharp emerald eyes seemed to hold the peacefulness of the forest within.

Naru was mesmerized with the emerald orbs that seemed to be staring deep into her soul, when she realized that the two males were both waiting for her to introduce herself.

"Um… Hi! My name's Naru! Thanks for saving me,"

"Great to see you better little lad. The name's Villius. This brat here is-"

"I'm Leone," the boy cut off and gestured to the left of her, "Take a sit,"

Naru just realized that there's a wooden chair leaning on the wall of the bedroom she was in. She took the chair and placed it carefully before she plopped down onto it, now sitting directly in front of the boy called Leone with only about ten steps apart.

"Um…" Naru started, _'What am I supposed to say?'_

Fortunately for her, Villius saved her from the awkwardness of the situation, "So I heard from Leone that you fell off the cliff last night. What were you doing in the forest at night alone anyway?"

That was it. Naru knew she was going to get scolded from that moment onwards, and for days. Sighing she answered meekly, "I was just playing in the forest… and I wasn't alone, I was with…" her eyes widened, where was her pet fox?

"Have you seen a small red fox!?" Naru burst out suddenly, surprising both of the males.

Villius frowned and questioned her, "What fox?"

She stood and started to pace around the small living room. The rest of the room occupants had their eyes on her.

"My pet fox, Kyuu! I was with her last night," her eyes teared up at the thought of losing her beloved pet.

The red-haired boy raised an eyebrow and asked, "So you weren't chased by a fox then?"

Naru shook her head furiously at that and started to bawl her eyes out. Leone panicked at her sudden tears and began to look at his father anxiously.

The older man smiled softly and kneeled down to her level. He placed his huge hand on her shoulder and whispered softly to her, "Naru, let's go back to your home first, okay? Maybe your pet fox has already returned to your home, right?"

The little girl looked up to him and sniffed a few times before nodding. Villius pat her head gently and pulled her up to place her on his shoulders. Naru squealed from the sudden movement and smiled brightly, thrilled from the different view that she got from being much higher from the ground. Sometimes her father would do the same for her, but this man Villius is very much taller than her father.

Glad that she had stopped crying, the tall man made his move to get out of the shack. He turned to the young boy and motioned for him to follow along. The emerald-eyed boy sighed and eventually trailed after his father out of the wooden shack.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: I'm glad to say that i have rekindled my writing spirit. Sorry for such a long hiatus.

I realized that i had never actually mention the timeline of the story, so let me just say this: Naru will be of the same age as Allen. That should be sufficient enough for all of you to know.

Though this chapter may seem meaningless to some... it's not. as the chapter name suggest, it's one of the important point in the plot.

I will continue writing the next chapter tonight. :)

Reviews are very much appreciated, to know that this fic is not lost in time. Peace! (^_^)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm currently conducting my internship period for 7 months, and I still have about 3 months to go. I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to working after my graduation. At the moment I'm working from Monday to Saturday, fulltime from 8am-5pm! Weee~ Fun… not. With only Sundays off, I can't really do much at all! I can't wait to finish this internship period and return back to my university life.

Kitsune of Innocence

Chapter 4: Separation

oOoOoOoOoOo

The sound of breaking twigs and crushing leaves filled the cheery morning as three people made their way through the deserted forest path. The only female of the group, a blonde girl trailed after the adult leading at the front, followed by another young crimson-haired boy at the back.

The small young girl marveled at the view of the wild forest that hummed with liveliness of the wilderness, and made her stop every now and then to look at the plants or animals, or to sniff at the wild flowers growing along the desolate forest trail.

The young boy's emerald eyes watched every one of her movement like a hawk, careful not to let her out of his sight for even a second, lest the girl land herself in another kind of trouble. He rather not needing to save her twice in a row in less than 24 hours.

"Ne, Mr. Villius, how long have you been living in the forest? Why do you live in the forest anyway? And what do you actually do?" the blonde girl scampered to the adult's side and bombarded him with questions.

Villius gave a hearty laugh at her curiosity, whereas the boy rolled his eyes at the younger girl.

"Well young lad, my son and I have just recently moved here, and I opt for the shack since it's close to the cave where I can dig out the ores. I am a blacksmith, you see, and- Do you know what blacksmiths are?" the large man asked after seeing her blank look. Naru shook her head vehemently as a response.

The man mused about the best way to explain things to her, and decided on warping it a little.

"Blacksmiths like me work with metals, to make daily tools like hammers, axes, shields-"

"We make weapons." Leone interrupted curtly. Naru slowly turned towards him and tilted her head to the side.

"Weapons?"

"Yeah, like swords, spears, arrows-"

"Leone," his father cut off abruptly and frowned at him. The boy merely shrugged and walked off; passing the other two that had paused in their strides.

Naru stared after the boy 's back for what seems like an hour until she noticed the large man beside her had started moving again. She quickened her pace to match his large steps and decided to stay quiet this time around, with thoughts and images flashing through her mind.

'_Weapons.'_

Blood-red images flashed through her mind, each featuring sharp pointed metals in various shapes; stars, long blades, short-handed arrow-like blade, curved blade, and as those images shifted into another, Naru had offhandedly named those steel shapes as if she knew them by heart, _'Shuriken... Katana... Kunai… Sickle…'_

A sense of familiarity washed throughout her very being, but she shuddered as it passed through. Her conscience was shaking hard at the end of it, feeling sick with herself.

Throughout the whole image transition in her mind, various screams of fear had accompanied the red images. Those screams had sounded like a combination of hundreds of people, all blended into a harmony symphony of fear. And she… somewhere deep inside, she had enjoyed it. Not in the sense that she reveled in it, but she had felt comfortable with it. She had felt…

'… _At home.'_

Naru covered her mouth with both hands, trying to fight down the queasy feeling that's bubbling inside her. Villius had noticed her sudden action and stopped to ask her if she was alright.

The blond girl slowly lifts her hands and managed a weak grin at him, trying to reassure that she was fine when a bored voice interrupted.

"Oi. Can the two of you walk faster? We're here already." Leone grumbled loudly and he turned back to face forward.

Indeed, they had arrived at the entrance of Naru's hometown, Speranza. The modest amount of houses and buildings that made up the small village was spread evenly in an orderly fashion, sparing a small clearing in the middle known as the village square. The easy and simple life of the villagers had lead to a peaceful and friendly atmosphere between themselves, and it was this peaceful ambiance that Naru had grown into and loved so much.

However it seems that at the moment, that sense of peacefulness was nowhere to be seen.

The supposed calm and serene village broke into chaos; a tense atmosphere of unrest seems to settle in instead. Naru looked around quizzically and went nearer to the entrance, trying to figure out what was wrong when she heard her name being called.

"Naru!" She turned to find a black-haired boy running towards her, and similarly, the rest of the villagers that were around the village square at that time started to gather around her as well; relief etched on each and every person's face.

"Alexis!" Naru beamed as her friend panted on his knees; having been on his toes since the night before, searching for his missing friend. Alexis gracefully lifted up his face and gave her quick look, assessing her condition and let out a relieved sigh. His small smile quickly turned into a frown as he pinched both of her cheeks, pulling them apart like an elastic band.

"Where have you been!? Everyone was so worried about you! You little troublemaker you..!" Naru squirmed as she tried to pull off his pinching fingers.

"H-hey! That hurts! A-and it wasn't my fau-"

"Naru!"

The feminine shout of the girl's name stopped them both in tracks. Alexis pulled away from the blonde girl and made some room for the new arrivals. Other villagers had also shifted around to let the two worried parents through.

"Mommy! Dad-" Instantly the blonde girl found herself crushed within the arms of both her parents. Amidst the embrace, a soft yip and a brush of soft fur against her legs alerted her to the presence of her pet fox, which lifted most of the small girl's fears as she basked in the attention and concern from her parents.

Most of the villagers chose that moment to leave the reunited family alone for some privacy, except for the nosey ones, who eventually left as well after a few minutes of silence.

When the two of them had calmed down and began to inspect their child for any injuries, only Alexis had remained. Naru had, with difficulty, managed to assure her parents that she was feeling fine. Only when everything had settled down did she realize that she had completely forgotten about her saviors.

She turned towards the entrance gate and darted forward to find the father and son duo. She found the two silhouettes of her saviors moving further away from her, so she took her breath and cupped her hands around her mouth, "Mr. Villius! Leone!"

The two figures stopped in their tracks and turned to face her. Both of them were quite far away for her to properly distinguish their facial expressions.

"Can I come over and visit you guys again?" the two of them were taken aback, especially the red-haired boy. Then the father of the stunned boy gave her a toothy grin and nodded, making the smile on Naru's face grow bigger than it possibly could.

"I'll see you guys soon then! Thanks for everything!"

With that, the blacksmith family continued walking their way home, hands outstretched to wave back at her. Naru beamed and turned around, noticing the confused expressions on both her parents and Alexis' faces.

"Who're they, Naru?" Nataniele questioned.

"Them? They're my new friends…!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

- One Year Later -

An old wooden cabin stood amongst the green wilderness. The hut, having been abandoned to the wilds for quite some time, was filled with holes and cracks, though signs of recent repairs and quick fixes to cover the holes and gaps show signs of human activity.

Not to mention the parading black smoke that travels up the chimney and out towards the bright blue sky, accompanied by the smell of delicious meat boiling up in a metal pot; if that weren't enough proof of humans living in the old cabin, then the fact that a young boy had just walked out of said shelter certainly did certify the fact.

The young chap with emerald eyes treaded the earthen floor towards the back of his living quarters to where the firewood was stored. He reached for the logs and took out three round logs with his left, and grabbed a wooden axe with his right. Gingerly he carried the items to a wooden stump few feet away and placed them all on the ground.

He took one of the logs and placed it on the stump straight up. After making sure that the log had stabilized and would not fall off, he took the axe and raised it high up in the air before swinging it down with force on the lone log to chop it into half. The boy then took the halved portion of the log and chopped it further into a quarter. He continued the routine until he was well equipped with 12 pieces of quarter-logs.

The boy gave a satisfied smile after inspecting the perfectly chopped firewood. Gathering them all into one hand, he strode back to the hut's entrance and was about to enter his home when he felt a pair of soft hands covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice sang genially and giggled behind him.

The red-haired boy sighed heavily as soon as he heard that tone of voice, though a small smile crept onto his face. Without turning, he addressed the person in a curt and clipped manner.

"What do you want, Naru?"

The blonde girl puffed up her cheeks and leaned on the boy's shoulder, putting most of her weight on him. "Geez Leone, be a little more welcoming, won't you? I'm a guest here!"

The boy called Leone rolled his eyes and slickly removed her from his shoulder. Turning the door handle, he turned slightly towards her, "You come here too often to be a guest. There's no reason to treat you special."

"You're cold as usual,"

"I know."

Finally pushing the door open, Leone stepped onto the creaking floorboards that groaned with each steps of the two inhabitants. He walked pass the small dining table with seats for two, and straight to the fireplace where a small metal pot was hanging above the burning fire. The boy placed the firewood to the side and began stirring the boiling soup with a wooden spoon.

"So what's for lunch today?" the blonde girl readily sat on one of the chairs near the round table. She took a huge sniff towards the boiling pot and began to salivate. "It smells good!"

"… This is not a free diner." He turned an eye towards the salivating blond girl and noticed something amiss. "Where's Kyuu?"

"Oh. She went out to hunt. You know, the girl grew so big; her usual food can't seem to satisfy her hunger anymore. She needs to hunt once in awhile," Naru shrugged and continued inhaling the sweet aroma that teased her hungry stomach.

Leone returned to the pot and stirred the soup a little while longer. "You sound like an old woman. "

"I do not!" the girl pouted and glared at the boy standing few feet away from her.

The boy ignored her retort and continued, "Though that doesn't sound like your mother at all,"

That comment stopped her in her track as an image flashed through her mind.

_Flaming red hair framed her sharp face and her matching red orbs; while her body was wrapped with a black kimono so dark one might found himself lose within it. A pair of orange foxy ears stood on her head, while nine fluffy tails of the same color spread out, accentuating the might of her presence._

The sound of the pot clanking shook her out of her trance, and she glanced over to see Leone pouring the soup into a big bowl. She silently sighed in relief, as her friend seemed to be unaware of her stupor a few moments ago.

Leone silently served the big bowl of soup on the table along with two smaller bowls for each of them. He sat on the chair opposite of the girl and they both read a short prayer before they dug in.

Naru stirred the soup and scooped up a chunky piece of meat, "This is…!"

She slowly brought the spoon closer to her mouth and swallowed it whole swiftly.

"There's no mistaking it! This tender piece of meat, full of wonderful flavors! It's none other than…!" Naru pointed her spoon at the one responsible for the meal with vigor, "Rabbit meat!"

"Bingo."

"I knew it! This wonderful piece of delight, cooked to the right amount of heat and time, nothing else can be this magnificent! The only other food that could win over this delicacy, and only by a small margin, is ramen!"

Leone quietly stared at the blabbering blonde in front of him and chuckled, "You're such a kid."

Naru sharply turned towards him and narrowed her piercing blue eyes, "What? What was that? A kid? I'm not a kid! If I am, then you are too!"

Snorting, the emerald-eyed boy stood up from his chair and walked to the sink, "I'm older than you."

Naru quickly gulped down the remaining content and followed the boy, "Eh~ Older than me huh? But for someone who's older than me by three years, you sure are short."

And it was true. Even though Naru was slouching, and Leone stood up as straight as a flagpole, they were reaching the same height. Leone's face colored, almost matching his red hair when Naru pointed this fact out.

"I'll grow taller one day," he muttered softly, more as a whisper to himself rather than for the other person standing behind him.

As he washed the bowls and utensils using the clean water taken from a river nearby, Naru found herself staring at her friend, and she can't help reminiscing the past year she had gotten to know him.

When she had fallen off the cliff, she never thought that she would gain an important friend as a result. Although he seemed cold and impossible to approach at first, she was withdrawn to him, through some unknown invisible force. It could just be the threads of fate that had tied them together in the first place, but regardless of what it was, she was unable to stop herself from getting to know him better.

And it turned out that he wasn't a cold person at all, though his direct words and taut personality seemed to be the cause for his lack of friends, except for her. She had remembered how it had gone horribly wrong when she introduced him to the rest of her group of friends. He seemed to rub everyone the wrong way with his straightforwardness. Since then, whenever the rest of her friends meet Leone, heated glares would go his way that would have burned holes into him if it could.

She remembered how bad one of his fights with her group leader; Raph, had underwent. The fight that had originally started with snide comments had escalated into a fistfight and worsen to the point that the village chief was called forth to settle the squabble. And the reason for the fight was because of their hair. Apparently the two boys love their hair dearly and could not take it calmly when their hair became the subject of affront.

'_Really now, those two. They act more like a girl than I do,' _Naru mused fondly at the memory. '_Speaking of hair…' _

"Your hair has grown so long," Naru held a strand of his spiky fringe that had grown past his eye level. Leone blinked and looked at his own hair blankly as if noticing for the first time the length of his fringe.

"I guess it has," he shrugged as he slowly pulled away from her to avoid his hair from tangling into a mess. He turned away and marched into one of the rooms and brought out with him a pouch of clinking coins and metals for trading purposes. As he put on his outer coat, a statement from Naru had stopped him in his tracks.

"Shouldn't you get a haircut?"

Leone sharply turned towards the girl that had spouted an offence against his hair and growled, "Never…!"

The pair of cerulean blue eyes blinked at the underlying threat accompanying the refusal, and inwardly giggled at his protectiveness of his own hair. _'That was actually cute,'_ she mused.

As the boy finished preparing himself, he went to the entrance and turned the knob open, breathing in the fresh air from the forest. "I'm going to the village. Coming along?" he tilted his head towards the blonde girl. Naru shook her head as she followed him out of the shade.

"I'm gonna walk around the forest a little bit. You go ahead,"

"Don't fall off the cliff now,"

Naru gave him a sulking glare and stuck out her tongue at the other boy. Leone merely chuckled as he headed towards the village that Naru lived in. Naru watched as he disappeared within the bountiful greenery leaves of the forest before she strode off the opposite way.

She had spent around half an hour wandering aimlessly within the border of the lush forest that she's gotten to know like the back of her hand. Having decided that she had enough of exploring, she decided to return to town using the same path Leone had taken earlier. On her way back she didn't encounter the red-haired boy, so she figured that the boy was still in the village.

By the time she arrived at the town, it was reaching late afternoon. Her stomach grumbled loudly as a sign of hunger, and she licked her lips hungrily when she passed by a snack store selling various kind of sweet delicacies suitable to be eaten with evening tea.

'_I should buy some for mommy and daddy,'_ she thought cheerfully and fished out her small wallet. Naru looked over the sweets displayed in the case several times over before finally deciding on a delicacy on the top leftmost of the display, which was a round pastry bun filled with orange jam with a sprinkle of icing sugar on the top. She made her pick and ordered three pieces of that pastry to the shopkeeper.

As she waited for the shopkeeper to pack her order, a flash of green caught her curious eyes. When she turned her head slightly towards that flash of light, she found herself staring at a piece of cloth that reminds her of a certain pair of emerald eyes.

Once she paid for her snacks, Naru quickly made her way to the neighboring store and picked up the piece of cloth that had greatly enthralled her. That piece of green cloth was square in shape, and divided into two patterns at each side. While one half of the cloth was filled with circular patterns, the other half was adorned with scaly patterns that heavily reminded her of fishes.

"Oho! If it isn't Naru. How can I help ya today, girl?" a man in his mid-thirties got out from his store and greeted Naru. Naru greeted him back pleasantly and continued staring at the fabric she was still clutching.

"Interested in that, are you? I've got to say, you got a fine eye like your mother's. That was the latest design brought in over from China! For you Naru, I can give twenty percent discount!" the merchant grinned and began picking out more of the latest design for her viewing.

Nonetheless, Naru had her eyes glued to the piece of fabric that she was still holding as she hummed interestedly in regards to the merchant's offer. No matter how long she ogles the material, she kept on being reminded of a certain blacksmith apprentice.

'_This color will certainly bring out his eyes,' _she thought absentmindedly.

After staring at the piece of cloth for awhile longer, all the while ignoring the nonsense being spouted by the merchant, an idea finally formed in her mind. An image of Leone adorning that piece of cloth as part of his apparel formed in her mind, and she can't help liking the idea.

Having decided her mind, Naru turned to the previously ignored merchant and grinned, "I'll take this one!" Naru let her eyes wandered around the various other piece of textile and pointed to the far back, "And that plain black one, to go together with the first one,"

"Excellent choice, my dear! Let me just pack them up for you," the man gathered the chosen materials into his hand and headed back into his store. As Naru waited for her purchase impatiently, ideas after ideas fashioned themselves as various designs in her mind. Once Naru collected her purchase from the store, she quickly rushed back home, eager to begin her newest project.

Naru reached her home in record time as she sped into the kitchen and placed the procured items onto the counter, before proceeding to track down her mother. The blonde girl peaked at the lawn and her parents' bedroom before deciding that the older woman had to be in the study room.

As she stepped into her father's study room, Naru found her mother stocking up the vials of medicines in her father's cabinet. Her mother must have brewed a new batch of potions earlier.

The creaking noise made by the old floorboard alerted her to the arrival of her daughter, and Narcisa turned around to find her daughter beaming excitedly, her smile stretching from one ear to the other. Curious, Narcisa gave her a questioning look as Naru finally revealed part of her upcoming project.

"Mommy, can you teach me how to sew?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naru groaned as her finger pricked the needle, again, and the thread missed the hole entirely.

"Naru, remember to wet the tip of the thread with your mouth, like this," Narcisa motioned and placed the tip of the thread on her tongue, wetting it with her saliva. "Then, carefully push the tip into the hole,"

Naru trembled in effort as she slowly put the wet tip of thread near the hole of the needle, and taking a huge gulp, pushed it slightly towards the small hole. The thread went through the hole, hanging in the empty air by a small force of balance. Naru squealed in delight as she quickly pulled the thread before she lost it again and gave a triumphant smile when she managed to save the thread.

"I did it!" she grinned happily towards her mother that was nodding approvingly.

"Very good. Now pull the thread so that both sides have the same length, and tie them into a knot at the end. This is to prevent the thread from slipping out again,"

Naru nodded vigorously and carefully did as instructed. Once her thread had been tied into a secure knot, Narcisa gave an approval hum and gave out her next instruction, "Now we can start sewing,"

The blonde girl gave a joyful whoop and reached out for the green fabric that she had bought earlier, only to be stopped by the older blonde.

"Naru, if you're going to sew that into a wearable piece of gift for Leone, then it's better for you to practice your sewing skill first," Naru blinked at that. Narcisa continued, "On small patches of fabrics,"

The blonde girl groaned as Narcisa handed her old patches of fabrics from her old dress. The smaller blonde hung her head in resign as she stared at the faded fabric in her grasp. She gave a huge sigh, but refueled her determination with a resolute gaze towards her mother.

Naru took her needle that was prepared with much difficulty, and with a big intake of breath, plunged the needle into the soft pad of fabric.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Finally!" Naru grinned triumphantly as she held up the masterpiece of her handy work proudly. After weeks of hard work and practice, she finally managed to create the perfect masterpiece that she was sure could pass a merchant's scrutinizing eyes as an item for sell. Though of course, she had no intention of selling her weeks of effort for a few measly dollars.

Naru turned her handicraft in every way possible to examine any loose thread or imperfection. Finding none, she finally placed it on her bed and put away all her sewing tools into a tin box that she kept underneath her bed. Once done with the housekeeping, she sat on the floor and leaned on the bed with her cheek resting against her folded arms on the bed. She stared at her piece of work and sighed contentedly.

On her bed, laid an emerald green headband attached to a piece of black clothing. She made this with a single purpose; as a gift for her dear friend Leone.

She had cut out a circular pattern from the fabric, which consists of a big circle with a smaller circle within it, to which perpendicular lines are jointed throughout the whole circumferences. She took one such particular pattern and sewed it together with a stripe of cloth with green scale patterns that began with the width of the smaller circle and ended with the width of the bigger circle. To maintain a constant undeviating width for the headband, Naru sewed the green patterns onto a piece of black cloth, keeping it neat while bringing out the emerald color even more strikingly against the black color.

Naru smiled as she reached for the headband, remembering every single process that she had went through to create that particular headband.

"Ooh!" she suddenly exclaimed and put down the headband on the bed. She scrambled to her wardrobe and opened the twin doors with excitement, immediately searching inside her treasure box that she had kept at the back most of her wardrobe. She took quite awhile going through her things, but finally hummed victoriously when she managed to pull out a beautifully decorated box.

The box was thin and long, decorated with golden circular patterns and tied with a blue ribbon. Originally it had contained hair ornaments, given by her mother on her last birthday, but she took them out and placed the headband inside instead. The headband fit perfectly into the box, earning a squeal of delight from the blonde girl.

"Leone is gonna love this," she hummed joyfully as she secured the box with the blue ribbon. She placed the box carefully on her bedside table, and a yawn escaped her as she sat on her bed. Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was a quarter past ten.

"I better get some sleep now," Naru climbed onto her bed and pulled her covers gleefully as she thought of Leone's expression when receiving her surprise gift the next day. Snuggling into the warmth of a certain groggy red fox, she closed her eyes with a smile on her face, "Good night, Kyuu,"

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Leone~" Naru knocked the door to his home and glanced discreetly at the box in her hands with a smile. Silence met her senses as she waited for another minute, before knocking again. Just like the previous knock, her calling went unanswered. Nobody was home. Naru turned away from the shade and wondered of her friend's whereabout.

She sighed and treaded down the muddy path, tiptoeing on certain areas where the soil has become extremely mucky from the rain of previous night. She pulled up her knee-length skirt to avoid any of the mud from soiling her blue piece of clothing until she reached a dry path. Naru glanced down at her pet fox that trotted after her, dirt and mud had gotten into her soft fur as she had ran over the muddy area without care.

Naru scrunched up her nose at the sight of her dirty pet fox and muttered, "You're gonna have a long, hot, bath tonight, Kyuu," to which Kyuu simply answered with a yip. Naru shook her head apathetically and headed down the path. She thought of her close friend and wondered aloud, "Kyuu, where do you think Leone is?"

The addressed fox simply yipped as a reply to her answer, to which Naru nodded dynamically as if understanding the wordings of her little friend. "That's right. He could be at the village right now. But then again, he might be with his father. If I'm not mistaken, they received a large order the other day. They could be mining for some minerals at the cave for forging."

Kyuu yipped again, playing her role of conversational partner without fail.

"I agree. That seems to be the highest possibility," Looking down at her red fox, Naru smiled and pumped her fist in the air, "Alright! Let's go to the cave! I'll race you there, Kyuu!," with that Naru sprinted off the ground with as much speed as she could muster, Kyuu trailing over her without much difficulty.

After about fifteen minutes of running and scampering, they finally reached the cave entrance. The cave is located somewhere beneath the cliffs where Naru had fallen off a year ago. Peering into the darkness of the cave, she could squint out two figures in the darkness of the natural hole of the earth.

"Mr. Villius! Leone!" she cupped her mouth and shouted from the entrance of the cave. She dared not enter the overwhelming darkness of the cave. She wasn't actually afraid of the dark, and actually a part of her feels much comfort within the cave very much similar to the feeling that she get when within the greenery of forest. Somehow she could envision a giant pair of ruby red eyes that would appear before her from the darkness of the cavern. However she wasn't frightened of such thoughts, the foreign comfort was what scared her the most.

At times unknown comforts and strange lapse of vision would arise and she would drift off from reality, caught in the mysterious episodes. She would lose control of herself for moments until she snapped out of it. So far, no one had caught on what was happening to her, and she planned to keep it that way.

Hence she decided to stay away from any factors that could trigger such occurrences and feelings of unknown origin. She did as best as she could to avoid the causes that she managed to notice, and the cave was one of such factor. Therefore she stayed outside of the cave instead of coming in to get the pair of father and son.

Moments after her shout echoed throughout the hole, Leone appeared from within the cave along with his father.

"Naru! How have you been, young lad? Haven't seen you for quite awhile now!" the large man greeted her cheerfully. His face was gray from the dust while mining for materials, and his beard was wild and scruffy, showing that he hadn't shaved for days, whereas the red-haired boy who appeared to be only slightly disheveled raised his hand as a greeting for his friend, "Yo."

"Good to see you too ! I'm doing great! Have you been staying in the cave the whole time?" Naru asked, having looking him up and down and noticing the lack of orderliness that was usually present by the man.

The tall man gave a hearty laugh and dust off his clothes, having seen her wandering gaze. "Right you are, Naru! I've been in this cave for several days now. Leone's been going back and forth to bring me some clean clothes and food. We have a large order you see, and I need all the time that I've got to dig out enough materials to fill them out!" Villius grinned at the fortune that's knocking on his family's door. Things would be well for them soon, and he could finally afford a more proper house and life for his son.

"That's good, but you've got to take care of yourself! I know Leone would be worried if you fall sick from overworking." The blonde girl reprimanded him with concern. On the sideline, Leone merely shrugged when Naru dragged him into the conversation.

"I know, I know. Now why don't you two go and have your lunch? I've got to dig out that last one; my hands are itching for it." The lone father headed to the entrance and took out two containers of food from the sack that Leone had brought from home, "Naru, you can have mine. I'm not hungry."

The blonde girl protested but found herself forced into receiving the food from Villius. Before she could protest further, the large gruff man headed back into the cave with a wave. Naru stood in silence and faced the sighing boy beside her.

"That old man…" he muttered softly. Leone pulled Naru along by her hand and walked off from the cave, "Come on, let's go to the river." They walked in a comfortable silence as Kyuu gave an occasional yip while following the pair. After a few minutes of walk, they reached a small river with a steady flow.

Leone immediately plopped down on the ground near the river, followed by Naru. The emerald-eyed boy took one of the containers and put it to the side and opened the other one, "I'll share you mine. Pops need to eat," Naru simply nodded at that. She had known that there's no way the lone father hadn't been hungry after all the work that he had done. She wasn't going to eat Villius' lunch even if Leone didn't offer to share with her.

The boy had prepared meat stew for lunch that day, and it was delicious if the smell wafting around the area was any indicator. Even Kyuu seemed to be captivated by the smell of food. Naru giggled and gave a piece to her pet fox, which she instantly consumed at high speed. The boy by her side smiled at the display of antics and quietly has a piece and offered it to the girl.

They enjoyed their lunch peacefully in a quiet manner. Well, the boy was quietly having his lunch while the girl chattered about random stuffs at every opportunity. Leone simply listened and gave a comment or two to her stories when they warrant it. After having their lunch and enjoying the feel of the sun on their skin, the boy finally stood up and brushed the dust off his pants.

"I got to get going. Pops waiting," he was about to reach down for the containers when Naru stood up abruptly and stopped him.

"Wait! I-I got something for you!" she stuttered and reached for the box that she had hidden in her pocket earlier. Emerald gaze held the cerulean blue questioningly when she presented a box before him.

"What's this, Naru?"

"I made this for you. Take it," Naru smiled sincerely and pushed the box into his hands. His emerald eyes widened at the sudden turn of event and wordlessly caressed the delightfully decorated box that he had received.

"Well, go on. Open it. You're not gonna stare at it all day, are you?" the blonde girl urged teasingly and watched with bated breath as Leone slowly opened the gift.

Leone's eyes widened as his eyes found a piece of beautifully sewn fabric resting inside the package. He took it out carefully and let his amazement shown clearly on his face as he examined the girl's masterpiece. "You made this?" he asked skeptically and eyed her person.

"Of course I did! It wasn't easy I tell you!" Naru exclaimed loudly, astonished at the sliver of doubt that was present in his voice. Then she launched into explanation of the whole process of creating the very masterpiece resting in his hands, while the boy continued gawking at the gift.

Then finally, Leone gave a genuine and sincere smile to Naru and expressed his gratitude wholeheartedly, "Thank you, Naru."

The cerulean eyed girl instantly stopped her rambling and felt a similar smile growing on her face, "Come on, let me help and put it on for you,"

Naru stepped closer to the boy across her and reached for the headband that she had made with enormous amount of effort. Gently gathering his soft, flaming red hair into her hands, she carefully slid the headband down to his neck, before pulling it up to a level above his ear.

"Hmm... it's a bit loose," she mumbled in his ears, causing Leone's face to grow red with embarrassment from their close proximity. He carefully turned his head away from her to avoid the chances of her looking at his tomato red face.

She unbuttoned one of the brooch that was keeping her turtleneck collar closed and pinned it to the headband to make sure they're tight enough not to slid off from that position. Satisfied that the headband was perfectly fixed on his head, she pulled away and admires how the headband managed to bring out the gentleness of his emerald gaze.

Now Leone's forehead had been covered by an emerald green and black headband, and at the side of the headband right above his left ear, her simple and round cerulean blue brooch secured the headband to stay on his head. His long, red flaming hair cascaded over the headband, though not reaching his eyes after being held back by the headband.

Naru gave a nod of approval at his new image, "Well, it's a bit loose… I guess I made it a bit too big. But that means you can still wear it when you've grown!" she giggled at the possible implication, and brushed his stubborn fringe that got held back by the headband, "Now your hair won't get into your eyes anymore! You look good," she gave him a beautiful smile that made his heart skipped a beat.

Leone closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth that was engulfing his very being. He could swear that every part of him was overflowing with affection and tenderness, and it was all thanks to the girl across him. He never had a close friend that could really understand him or tried hard to see the person he was behind his cold and direct behavior. Most people avoided him as soon as they found out about his demanding manner. But this girl… she had seen through his cold demeanor and managed to pull him out from his frozen shell. She was his first close friend.

His emerald eyes were full of compassion and warmth as he held his gaze with a pair of cerulean blue eyes. _'Thank you,' _his eyes seemed to convey the message to the other without a single word. And the most amazing thing happened when Naru nodded and smiled back as if understanding the message that he tried to convey.

Their gaze broke when a yip from a certain red fox shattered the spellbinding moment.

Leone took a deep breath and expressed his appreciation again, now in words, "Thank you again, Naru,"

Another yip from Kyuu reminded him of the presence of the girl's pet fox.

"And to you too, Kyuu," both of them chuckled as Kyuu circled around them with a cheerful yip.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A certain red-haired boy grinned as he looked at himself in the mirror reflection and brushed his red locks with his fingers for the umpteenth time. He was loving his new look, and truthfully he was impressed with the girl's skillfulness in producing a high quality headband. And to think that in the first place she began learning the skill for him. That made him giddy for some reason.

Leone pulled a chair from the living room and sat directly in front of the mirror in his bedroom. He wasn't being a narcissist; he just wanted to look at the headband that Naru had given him without taking it off since Naru had taken the trouble to help him secured it on.

As he continued staring at the comfortable piece of wear that had contributed into identifying the new him, an idea began to run wild in his mind. What if he returned her a gift, as a thank you for that headband he had just received? A thank you gift, for being his friend as well.

'_That wasn't such a bad idea,' _he idly thought. He could make a handicraft of his own to show how grateful he is that she had actually put in her effort for him. He would like to show similar effort for her; after all she was one of his precious persons.

But what was he good at? He wasn't particularly good at something, except for cooking. But he cooked too often for her; too much that it doesn't really seem all that special any longer.

'_Come on Leone Martello, think! What are you good at?' _he turned away from the mirror and scratched his head as his eyes wander around the bare bedroom. There was hardly anything inside the room save for a bed, a mirror and a small wardrobe. He had almost none personal artifacts, except for a few measly items. He had been travelling around with his father for as long as he remembered. In fact, he could very well exclaim that this was his longest stay at a single place. Secretly he was glad for it; he couldn't really bear to think of that moment when he would finally resume his travel and leave this place behind.

Leaving his first true friend.

Leone groaned and shook that thought out of his mind. _'That could wait for another time,' _His emerald eyes continued roaming around the room when his eyes fell onto a small broken figurine.

There was a loud click in his mind as things set in place.

'_Of course!' _he almost jumped out of the chair in his excitement. How could he have not thought of it? He was the son of a blacksmith! He may not be a master, but he had considerable skills in forging as well, having learned from his father on the basis of blacksmithing since young.

'_Well that settles it. What should I make for her? A necklace?'_ he tried imagining the blonde girl wearing a silver necklace forged by him. Then he shook her head. He wasn't skillful enough to make intricate designs like those sold on the streets. He might as well buy her one rather than make a terrible pendant that wouldn't even worth a laugh.

After careful considerations on his part, he decided to make her a ring. It was simple, and she could wear it on her finger at all times. Plus he had several ideas for designs that he had done, considering that he had made some rings for his customers before.

Seeing that it was still early and he had much time on his hand, he set out to begin his project immediately. He remembered having a broken silver pendant among his possessions. He had earned it as one of his payment from past dealings. Leone rummaged through his pouch that holds tiny items and smiled victoriously when he found it.

'_Let's do this!'_

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was almost reaching midnight when he was done with his project. He gazed at the ring contentedly as he imagined Naru's surprise at getting something in return. He smiled earnestly when he stared at the engravements that he had made. On the inside of the ring, he engraved both his and her names on it, separated by a spiral shape. On the outside surface, he engraved a decorative design of sun, something that reminded him of her. Her blonde hair that shone as bright as the sun, and the brightness that she brought in his life…

Indeed, she was like the sun for him.

Leone yawned as he looked at the clock that struck twelve and rang a low bell. He had better retired to bed soon; tomorrow he would have a long day ahead as he had to assist his father in forging the ordered weapons. His father had already returned from the cave with a few loaded sacks of minerals and ores. Though his body was heavily battered, Leone knew that his father wouldn't take a day off to rest until he has completed the whole order.

Just as he was about to turn the knob of his bedroom, a loud explosion boomed throughout the whole shack and surrounding forest. His eyes widened as he ran out of wooden cabin in cold feet. He knew that sound; he had listened to it one too many times in one of the places that he had travelled to. Cold sweat formed on his exposed skin as he gazed at the burning red sky. It was as if the dark cloak of night had been completely replaced by a fierce blazing red cloak of death.

Heavy steps reverberated behind him, and instinctively Leone knew it was his father.

"Oh no… The village!" Villius gasped as he stared at the scorching heavens. He regained his composure and quickly ran towards the _Speranze _village that was burning dreadfully. Leone stared blankly after his father, and only after a shout from him did Leone finally recovered his self-control. The red-haired boy rushed after his parent as fast as he could towards the gate of the village that he had first visited to send Naru off a year ago.

What had awaited him was far off beyond his imagination. The village houses were aflame with a smoldering fire so hot it could melt off metals in an instant. Frightened screams of terror and dread filled the glowing night. But that wasn't the cause of alarm that screamed the sense of foreboding to the two of them.

A huge monstrous sphere with a creepy mask hovered as it shot one of the surviving villagers with a barrel that seemed to be attached to its own body. As soon as the bullet came into contact with the villager, his earsplitting scream diminished as his skin became ashen and disintegrated into dusts and blown away along with the wind.

Leone trembled in fear at the sight. He could not process what had just happened. He saw a man turned into dusts before his very own eyes. Could he be dreaming? He clenched his fists harder until he drew his own blood, trying to shake himself awake from this nightmare.

Villius was frightened by the incident as well; he felt like screaming out in terror from fear but he controlled himself for the sake of his son. Speaking of his son, Villius turned and saw how badly it had affected him. He made up his mind as further shrieks of horror resounded around him by the surviving villagers that tried to escape the hovering monster.

"Leone!" Villius shook his shoulder to gain his attention. However the fear was too much for the young boy that he could not escape the terrible trance he was in.

The large man tried again, this time calling out to him with more force.

"Leone! Listen to me, LEONE MARTELLO!" that had snapped him out of his stupor. Leone looked into his father's hazel brown eyes and regained his mind and senses. He gulped in fear when he saw how fierce his father was being. A bad feeling spawned within him at the beginning of his father's next sentence.

"Leone! I need you to stay here-"

No sooner had the words got of his mouth, the boy quickly protested but Villius continued his words, disregarding his protests.

"and hide yourself well. You hear me? I need you to stay away and hide yourself from it. Do not, no matter what happened, DO NOT come out into the open!"

Villius pushed Leone down on his knees and into the crook of the tree. Then without delaying, he rushed into the clearing to save the stunned villagers. Leone watched as his father evaded the sight of the monster by hiding into the shadows and pulling the frozen villagers away from the clearing and out of the village boundary through the village entrance. Leone continued watching with bated breath as his father saved another three villagers.

On his fifth attempt however, everything went downhill. The shocked and terrified villager was hysteric when Villius had tried to pull him away to safety. The racket was loud enough that it had drawn attention from the monster that had hovered way off from where his father was. However that didn't stop it from aiming his deadly barrel at the heroic man. With his back facing the monster, Villius had no way of knowing that he had become the next target of extermination by the monster.

Leone was out from his hiding spot before he knew it. He began running as fast as he could, hoping to reach his father n time. He stretched out his hand and tried to reach his father somehow.

But deep down, he knew he wouldn't make it. He was too late. Too slow.

"Pops, look out!"

Everything happened instantaneously, too fast to be counted as a second. The moment he shouted his warning, the monster had shot his devastating bullet that immediately pierced his father's left shoulder. The villager that Villius was trying to save shrieked and immediately ran away blindly towards the monster into his own death.

The monster was preoccupied with the frenzied village resident; it never noticed the boy that had entered into its line of fire.

Leone kneeled down by his father whose skin was being slowly covered by black stars as hot tears rolled down his cheeks, "Pops…?"

Villius slowly lifted his gaze, searching for his son's face, but his vision was all blurry and dim, he could only see a faded silhouette, "Leone…?"

"I'm here, pops…!" he tried to grasp his father's hand, but all too soon his hand crumbled into dust and fluttered away from reach.

"…Stay alive... son… I love you…" Villius' voice faded as his whole face froze like a statue before the ashen skin disintegrated into dirt, leaving only his memory and clothes behind.

Leone started to sob uncontrollably as he called for his father repeatedly, "Pops…? Come on Pops… this isn't funny… Father…? Father….!" Leone screamed his heart out, but his voice had all but withered from the crying and sobbing, he could only manage a silent scream.

The boy dug his fingernails into his hand so hard, his hand was bleeding freely. He didn't really notice the pain until he felt a small object that dug into his skin, hard. Slowly he unclenched his fist, only to find a small, silver ring in which he had engraved two names.

The horrifying truth hit him as he was finally reminded of his other precious person. _'My father is dead now…' _he swallowed the realization bitterly, but pushed on, _'I don't think I can take it if you die too… Naru, I beg of you, please be alive…'_

With heavy feet, Leone pushed himself to stand up and walked away from the remains of his father; the clothes that used to hug a warm and precious person of his.

Steadily, Leone made his steps towards the girl's home, at the very end of the village. He treaded the ashen ground as fast as he could while being mindful of the presence of that monster. He was fortunate that the monster decided to venture into another part of the village to silence the cries and shrieks echoing throughout the small village.

Leone quickened his steps, hope budding in him as he thought of the possibility that the monster had not gotten to Naru yet. However his hope was immediately crushed cruelly when he came into sight of what was the home of the sweet, blonde girl.

The house was being smoldered viciously by scorching fire. From the fallen columns and timbers, he knew that it has been that way for quite awhile now. There was close to zero chances of the girl being alive.

He fell to his knees as he stared, petrified at the truth looming before him.

'_Father is dead._

_Naru… is dead._

_I…What do I have left…?'_

Leone clenched the ring in his fist as hard as he could; focusing his mind on the pain produced to escape from the horrifying reality. He slammed his clenched fist into the ground, again and again. He repeated the action continually until the pain no longer seemed to faze him.

'_I…'_

_**Slam!**_

'_I…'_

_**Slam!**_

'_This hurts…'_

_**Slam!**_

'_Too much..!'_

_**Slam!**_

'_I don't think I can take it.'_

_**Slam!**_

'_I'm sorry… father.'_

Leone stopped slamming his fist into the ground, and shakily stood up. He slowly took a step towards the blazing house. And he continued taking a step, one after another, bringing him closer to the heat of the night.

'_I'm coming to you… Naru…'_

Eyes closed and fist clenching hard onto the silver ring that he had forged for his sun, Leone took another step closer to death.

But as fate had it, Leone was too important of a character to die before his time. Fate chose that moment to alter the destiny of one future exorcist.

A sudden powerful explosion from within the house had blown Leone off his feet and into the forest outskirts nearby. The force was too strong, it had knocked Leone's head against a solid rock with such force that blood flowed down the side of his head heavily from the wound.

The future exorcist looked up to the burning house groggily as he felt his consciousness slipping away. Before he was fully impounded by the darkness, he managed to call out to his two precious people.

'_Father… Naru…'_

Then everything went black.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A figure walked into the ruins of what had been a village. He slowly walked around the remains, examining any evidences that could possibly relate him to the tragic story that had found its way to this village.

He continued walking along the blacken path that was governed with timbers and rocks that had been burnt to crisp at both side. When he reached the end of the village, which was also filled with blacken house structures, he was ready to turn around and walked away from this place forever.

Therefore it was a pleasant surprise, when he heard a groan coming from the forest outskirt near where he stood. He treaded the path to the noise carefully, and found a barely conscious boy looking up blearily at him.

"Who…are you…?" the boy questioned with much effort as he clutched his head in pain. He continued to stare at the boy for awhile, wondering if it was fate or coincidence that the boy had survived the ordeal. Nevertheless, he wasn't sure whether to call this situation fortunate or the other way around for the boy.

The boy winced in pain and was losing his consciousness as the figure worked his way to reveal his identity to the boy. He was not sure if the boy had actually heard him, or had slipped back into the oblivion, but he chose to say it anyway. For some reason, he was extremely compelled to do so.

"I am…. Bookman."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naru could feel the smooth and cool touch of water engulfing her every senses but her throat. In fact, she could feel how parched her throat was. She was extremely tempted to soothe her throat with the cool water surrounding her, but she was just so exhausted, so very tired that she couldn't even move a finger.

Her mind was a mess; she couldn't make out or remember what had happened. She was extremely tired she couldn't even care less about her current situation. She could barely form coherent thoughts as her consciousness started to slip away from her.

But she didn't care. She couldn't.

All she wanted was to close her eyes and relieved herself from all this exhaustion.

"Hey! There's a kid floating down the river!"

So she did.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Okay! How many of you have seen that coming? That Leone Martello was in fact, Lavi, the Bookman Jr.!

…I guess not huh? I didn't really give any hint beside his hair and eyes in the last chapter. My bad. I'm bad at giving hints.

Leone Martello actually means Lion Hammer! Roar Lavi, Roar!

Lavi: Roar. (monotone)


End file.
